'Never Thought I'd Get to 100 Tests': Pujara Felicitated by BCCI, Receives 100th Cap From Gavaskar - WATCH

India’s Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara added another feather to his glorious cap, becoming the 13^th player to represent India in Test cricket. It was a special moment for Pujara himself as he joins an elite list of batters that comprises the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, Sourav Ganguly, Virat Kohli among others.

On Friday, the BCCI felicitated Cheteshwar Pujara in a ceremony that took place at the Arun Jaitley Stadium before the commencement of the second Test. Batting legend and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar presented the cap to Pujara, who was accompanied by his father, wife and daughter.

IND vs AUS, 2nd Test Live Score and Scorecard

A veteran of 99 Tests, Cheteshwar Pujara expressed his gratitude towards his family, fans and teammates for supporting him throughout his cricketing journey.

“It is an honour to receive this cap from you, legends like you have inspired me (On getting the cap from Sunny G). I wanted to play for India as a youngster but I never thought I’d get to 100 Test matches. Test cricket is the ultimate format for me, it challenges you just like life. To all the youngsters, I’d encourage y’all to work hard to play Test cricket for India,” Pujara said after receiving the 100^th Test cap from Gavaskar.

“I’d like to thank my wife, my family, everyone in BCCI and all my teammates who’ve supported me throughout this journey,” he added.

With this feat, Pujara surpassed the record of former captain Mohammad Azharuddin who had played 99 Tests for India. In 99 matches, Pujara has scored 7021 runs at an average of 44.15. He has 19 centuries and 34 fifties to his credit.

Earlier, Australia skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first against India. The injury-stricken visitors are playing three spinners and a pacer in the Delhi Test. They have handed a debut to Matthew Kuhnemann while Travis Head has replaced Matt Renshaw in the squad.

India, on the other hand, made just one change; a fit-again Shreyas Iyer is back in the mix and Suryakumar Yadav has been benched. The bowling attack of India remains the same – two pacers and three spinners.

Here are the playing XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Srikar Bharat(w), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.

Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann.

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