Out-of-favour India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has been in red-hot form in the in the English County Championship, scoring his third century in as many games for Sussex. Pujara, who was batting on 172 off 167 balls while writing this report, has helped his side take a substantial lead against Durham, who were all out on 223 in their first innings.
But, there was something else that caught the eye of the cricket fans – his partner at the other end. Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Muhammad Rizwan was giving Pujara great company, with a solid half-century.
There has been no bilateral cricket between arch-rivals India and Pakistan since 2012-13, because of the political tension between the two countries. They play against each other only in ICC tournaments now. Therefore, every encounter between these two cricketing giants garners much attention on and off the field.
So, it was a welcome change for the cricket lovers to see Pujara and Rizwan playing together rather than against each other. Pictures of the two in talking at the crease soon went viral on social media.
“What a dream partnership,” the official Twitter account of the County Championships wrote as they shared pictures of Pujara and Rizwan.
Pujara now has scored three hundreds, including a double century in his five innings. On his debut for Sussex, Pujara scored 6 and an unbeaten 201 to help his side draw the match against Derbyshire. In Sussex's 34-run loss to Worcestershire, he scored 109 in the first innings, followed by 12 in the second essay.
The runs will keep Pujara in contention for a place in the Indian squad when India travel to England for the postponed fifth Test later this year. The veteran batter was dropped from the Test team following the series loss in South Africa earlier this year.
