Pujara, third Indian to bat on all 5 days of Test match

Right-handed batsman Cheteshwar Pujara added yet another feather on his cap as he became the third Indian cricketer to bat on all five days of a Test match, during the opening match against Sri Lanka here at the Eden Gardens on Monday.

The 29-year-old, who entered an exclusive club on Day 5 of the ongoing Test, came in to bat at the crease after opener KL Rahul was dismissed off the first delivery of the match on the opening day.

After bad light and rain played the spoilsport and called off the first two days early, Cheteshwar finished as the top-scorer for India in the first innings with his decent knock of 52 off 117 deliveries on Day Three.

He once again joined KL Rahul at the crease yesterday when Shikhar Dhawan departed after smashing a scorching knock of 94 off 116 deliveries before returning unbeaten on two at stumps.

On Day Five, Cheteshwar resumed the second innings for India with Rahul (79), but failed to replicate his first-innings fireworks and went back to pavilion after scoring just 22.

It should be noted that ML Jaisimha and current India head coach Ravi Shastri are the other two Indian batsmen to have achieved the feat.

While Jaisimha entered the exclusive club against Australia in 1960, scoring 20* and 74, Shastri achieved the same in 1984 against England hammering 111 and 7*.

Interestingly, all the three batsmen have achieved the feat at Kolkata's Eden Gardens.