Cricket News: Country cricket-Cheteshwar Pujara and Washington Sundar in excellent form
Cheteshwar Pujara records a century on his debut as the captain of Sussex; This was Pujara's fifth century in this county season.
Cheteshwar Pujara records a century on his debut as the captain of SussexCheteshwar Pujara, a veteran Indian batsman, has been designated the team's interim captain by Sussex and will take the helm against Middlesex in a critical County Championship game. Tom Haines, Sussex's regular captain, was declared out for "around 5-6 weeks after breaking a bone in his hand when batting against Leicestershire last week," prompting Pujara to be chosen captain.
Pujara, one of the top run scorers in Division 2 of the County Championship, will play his eighth game for Sussex this year. Pujara has 766 runs scored at an average of 109.42, with a 203 as his top score.
Having captained Saurashtra, the Rest of India, and the West Zone in first-class cricket in India, Pujara has experience leading teams. He has also been Saurashtra's T20 captain and the West Zone's captain in 50-over cricket. In limited overs cricket, Pujara has led India's A and B sides as captain.
Washington Sundar impresses with 4 for 69 in his County debut
Washington Sundar, an all-arounder from India, made his presence known on Tuesday against Northamptonshire for Lancashire, taking four wickets for 69 runs.
On his comeback to red-ball cricket, the 22-year-old dismissed Will Young (2 runs off 25 balls), a well-positioned Rob Keogh (54 runs off 82 balls), Ryan Rickleton (22 runs off 41 balls), and Tom Taylor (1 run off four balls).
In addition to making more than 50 IPL appearances, the all-rounder has already played for India in all three forms.