Against Jharkhand in a 2023/24 Ranji Trophy match, Cheteshwar Pujara brought up the 17th double hundred of his first-class career.

Chirag Jani (5-22) led the riot as Saurashtra had bowled out Jharkhand for 142 (they were 45-5 at one point) on the first day of a first-round match of the 2023/24 Ranji Trophy at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

Saurashtra, 108-1 at stumps on day one, batted through the second day to amass 406-4. By stumps, Cheteshwar Pujara was on 157 not out, his 61st first-class hundred. He went past Vijay Hazare’s tally of 60 centuries.

Among Indians, only Sunil Gavaskar (81), Sachin Tendulkar (81), and Rahul Dravid (68) have more hundreds in the format than Pujara.

However, he did not stop there when play resumed on the third day. He brought up his 17th double hundred and was batting on 243 when Saurashtra declared their innings closed.

With Prerak Mankad also making 104 not out, Saurashtra had amassed 578-4 by then – a lead of 436 runs. At the time of writing, Jharkhand were 85-1 in their second innings.

Only three batters have made more first-class double hundreds than Pujara – Don Bradman (37), Wally Hammond (36), and Patsy Hendren (22), while Herbert Sutcliffe and Mark Ramprakash also have 17 each. He went past CB Fry, Jack Hobbs, and Graeme Hick, all of whom have 16.

This is also Pujara’s eighth double-hundred in the Ranji Trophy, the second-most, after Paras Dogra’s nine. Pujara moved past Ajay Sharma and Abhinav Mukund, both of whom have seven double tons apiece.

Three of Pujara’s double hundreds were triple tons – 302 not out against Odisha in 2008/09 (his maiden double ton), 352 against Karnataka in 2012/13, and 306 not out against West Indies A in 2013/14.

Cheteshwar Pujara: Double hundreds by team

India: 3 in 103 matches
India A: 2 in 22 matches
India Blue: 1 in 2 matches
Saurashtra: 8 in 76 matches (including ongoing)
Sussex: 3 in 16 matches

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