Cheteshwar Pujara becomes first Indian to be dismissed run-out in both innings of a Test
17 January, 2018
Cheteshwar Pujara dives unsuccessfully to avoid a run out during the test match between South Africa and India at Centurion Park. (Source: AP)
Cheteshwar Pujara added an unwanted record to his name after becoming the first Indian player to be dismissed run-out in both innings of a Test match. Pujara’s forgettable outing at Centurion turned into a nightmare when he was run out for the second time during the second Test at SuperSport Park. The last player to be dismissed run out in each innings of a Test was Stephen Fleming against Zimbabwe in Wellington in 2000. It is the 25th instance in Test cricket where a player has been run out twice in a Test and the third time for someone batting at no.3 in both innings. Hansie Cronje, Marvan Atapattu, Adam Parore, Ian Healy, Mark Taylor are some of the other names featuring on this list.
The incident took place in in the 27th over when Parthiv Patel dabbed one down towards the third-man region and called for a quick two. However, with the ball racing towards the boundary both the batsman decided for a third. But it was Lungi Ngidi with his long legs who was scampering after the ball and the six-foot-plus-lad did pull it back with a dive. AB de Villiers, who was giving him company during the chase, fired a quick return-throw to keeper Quinton de Kock. Pujara, who is not the swiftest between the wickets fell short by a few centimeters as de Kock whipped the bails off in a flash.
Ravi Shastri was massively disappointed by Pujara’s effort.
A visibly flustered Ravi Shastri had a bewildered look on his face while skipper Virat Kohli was left aghast, shaking his head in disappointment. Earlier, in the first innings, Pujara was run-out by the Ngidi after trying to get off the mark. During that instance, he was slow to get off the blocks and once again had to dive in but fell short.