Cheteshwar Pujara achieved a herculean milestone of playing his hundredth Test match and it came against his favourite rival, Australia. It was a sight to behold as Sunil Gavaskar, another Indian legend was right there to felicitate Pujara on this iconic feat as India locked horns with Australia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Pujara became the 13th India to rack up this herculean feat as he stood tall amongst a flurry of hindrances, braving them emphatically like a warrior, taking them head on and surpassing them as smoothly as a breeze caresses your forehead.
Keeping the ritual alive of felicitating heroes, Sunil Gavaskar was the man who was shouldered with the onus of lionizing the legend on his 100th game and the speech given by the former Indian batter was nothing short of emotionally overwhelming.
Gavaskar said, “When we are playing as kids growing up, whether we are playing at home, down the streets and maidans, we all dream of playing for India. It’s an unbelievable feeling and you want to do that over and over again. You need a lot of hard work, determination, self-belief to lift yourself up from lean periods, and then stay focussed on getting the job done. When you go out to bat, it’s as if you’re taking the India flag with you. You’ve put your body on the line for India.”
He further added, “You’ve taken the blows, you got up, and you made bowlers earn your wicket. Every single run you scored is a big plus for India. You’ve been a role model for waht hard work, self-belief, and dreams can do. Welcome to the 100th Test club, and I wish and pray you that you become the first Indian to score a big hundred in your 100th Test and lay the foundation for yet another win in Delhi.”
Australia has won the toss and will batting first at Delhi as India hopes to drop a foot forward in the right direction.
