Pujara joins Border, Cook & Vengsarkar in unwanted list

New Delhi: Team India’s star batter Cheteshwar Pujara endured a disappointing outing against Australia in his 100th Test appearance on Saturday. Pujara was dismissed on a seven-ball duck off Nathan Lyon, becoming the only second Indian to register this unwanted record after batting great Dilip Vengsarkar. On Friday, Pujara had become the 13th Indian to achieve the landmark 100 Tests feat, and was presented with a special cap from legendary former captain Sunil Gavaskar in the felicitation ceremony.

Interestingly, Pujara might have been dismissed in only his second delivery of the innings, after he stepped out to play a defensive shot against Lyon. Australia, having already lost two reviews prior to the delivery, had decided not to review against the not out decision by Nitin Menon. The replays, however, showed the ball would have hit the stump and more importantly, the impact point was 2.8m away from the wickets.

Among batters, Pujara joined the company of Vengsarkar, Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Stephen Fleming, Alastair Cook, and Brendon McCullum who have all registered ducks in their 100th Test.

Earlier, India endured a poor start to proceedings on Day 2 with the side losing four wickets in the first session; resuming at 21/0, India were troubled by spinner Nathan Lyon throughout the session as he took all four wickets.

Following Pujara’s dismissal, Shreyas Iyer, who is making a comeback to the side after missing the first Test with an injury, was caught by Peter Handscomb at forward short-leg on 4.

Australia had scored 263 in the first innings after opting to bat in Delhi, with Usman Khawaja top-scoring for the side (81), while Hanscomb remaining unbeaten on 72.