Less than 24 hours after being dropped from the India Test squad, Cheteshwar Pujara struck an uncharacteristic 83-ball 91 for Saurashtra in their Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai here on Sunday.
The Elite Group D match ended in a draw with Saurahtra making 372-9 in their second innings on the fourth and final day. Saurashtra were only 48 runs ahead when the stumps were drawn, but the lack of time meant Mumbai could not go for an outright victory. So the record 41-time winners settled for three points from the game for taking the first-innings lead while defending champions Saurashtra bagged one.
Bowling his slow left-arm spin to good effect, Shams Mulani returned career-best figures of 7-114, adding to his four wickets in the Saurashtra first innings. On Saturday, senior batsman Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were dropped from the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, starting from March 4 in Mohali after an inconsistent run. The seasoned Pujara has managed just 602 runs at 24.08 in 14 Tests over the last one year.
Pujara, who last scored a Test century on the 2018-19 tour of Australia, got out for a duck in the first innings of this match, even as Rahane made a hundred. However, on the final day of the match, Pujara played freely and found the fence at will while maintaining a strike rate of over 100, something very rare when it comes to the man from Rajkot, who is known for his solid defensive game.
Brief scores
Mumbai 544-7 decl drew with Saurashtra 220 & 372-9 (S Patel 98, C Pujara 91, H Desai 62; S Mulani 7-114)
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