Cheteshwar Pujara surpasses Dilip Vengsarkar on the list of highest run-scorers for India in Test cricket

It was another rock-solid display from one of India’s most reliable batters in the longest format of the game, Cheteshwar Pujara, to usher India to safety after a rough beginning to the first Test. With Kohli, Gill, Rahul, and Pant back in the pavilion, Pujara joined forces with Shreyas Iyer as he scored a well-fought 90 before losing his scalp to Taijul Islam at the tail-end of the day.

Despite falling 10 runs short of a momentous Test century, the batter eclipsed an Indian batting legend’s feat. He went past the record of Dilip Vengsarkar to become the eighth-highest run-scorer for India in the longest format of the sport.

Vengsarkar finished his Test career with a staggering 6868 runs from 116 Tests while Pujara went past him and now is en route to rattle former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly’s record who holds 7212 runs next to his name in Tests.

The list of India’s eight highest run-getters in Test cricket is as follows:

·       Sachin Tendulkar - 15,921

·       Rahul Dravid - 13,265

·       Sunil Gavaskar - 10,122

·       VVS Laxman - 8,781

·       Virender Sehwag - 8,503

·       Virat Kohli* - 8,075

·       Sourav Ganguly - 7,212

·       Cheteshwar Pujara* - 6,882

Among the currently active players for India, Ajinkya Rahane remains the closest contender to Pujara with 4931 Test runs from 82 matches. In India’s playing XI against Bangladesh for the series opener, Ashwin remains to be the third-highest run scorer with 2931 runs after Kohli and Pujara. The off-spinner once again stood resolute as India went past 400 in the first innings.