Cheteshwar Pujara responded humorously to Sachin Tendulkar’s special birthday message on social media when he turned 36 on Thursday (January 25). The discussion occurred after Tendulkar sent a special birthday post for Pujara on X (previously Twitter).
For those unfamiliar, the two players played together for India in Tests before the latter retired in November 2013. In his message, Sachin Tendulkar hailed the 100-plus Test veteran for his timeless knocks for India in Test cricket.
“Happy birthday, @cheteshwar1! If your birthday party lasts as long as you last on the crease, it might just be the longest party in the world.”
Sachin Tendulkar
Cheteshwar Pujara responded:
“If only I partied. Thank you for your wishes paaji!”
Tendulkar scored a double century when Pujara made his Test debut against Australia in Bengaluru (2010). The latter also scored four and 72 runs in the match, which India won by seven wickets.
The Saurashtra batsman quickly established himself as the Indian cricket team’s new wall for more than a decade. He has 7195 runs from 103 Tests, including 19 tons and 35 half-centuries.
Cheteshwar Pujara was instrumental in India’s Test series victories in Australia (2017/18 and 2020/21).
Cheteshwar Pujara tops Ranji Trophy run charts with record-breaking form
Cheteshwar Pujara has remained in the spotlight while being sidelined from Tests since the 2023 World Test Championship final against Australia. This happened after he returned with scores of 14 and 27 in his two innings as Australia defeated India by 209 runs to win the title.
Rohit Sharma, the India captain, scored 15 and 43, while Shubman Gill got 13 and 18. Virat Kohli also didn’t do well with 14 and 49 in the same game. Even so, all three held their spots on the India squad for their West Indies tour last year.
Pujara recently scored an undefeated 243 against Jharkhand in the current 2023-2024 Ranji Trophy. He is presently the tournament’s best run-getter, with 444 runs in five innings and an average of 111.
He just finished scoring a notable 20,000 runs in high-level cricket. He stands with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar among best Indian batters.
In the 2023 County Championship Division Two season, Sussex captain Pujara scored 649 runs in 12 innings, averaging 54.08.