India vs Australia, 4th Test: Pujara joins elite club of Dravid, Gavaskar, Kohli on the Aussie soils

Cheteshwar Pujara scored a hundred and a fifty in the first Test between India and Australia at the Adelaide Oval last month. 

He failed to replicate the same performance in the second Test and that could have been one of the major reasons why India ended up losing the Perth Test and allowed the hosts to equalise the series at 1-1. 

However, India's 'Mr. Dependable' was back in his touch during the Boxing Day Test as he recorded his series' second century in front of the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) crowd. He couldn't end the year on a high, on the personal level, as he suffered a duck in the second innings but India won the match and took an unassailable lead of 2-1.

Pujara has carried the momentum into the new year as he is once again closing in to the three-digit score in the fourth Test which is underway in Sydney. 

While batting with Virat Kohli, Pujara joined a club that also included the former and a few other legends in terms of the number of balls faced in a Test series Down Under. 

Pujara (1,000* balls in 166.4 overs this series) became just the fifth Indian Test batsman, after Dravid(1203 balls - 2003/04), Vijay Hazare (1,192 balls - 1947-48), Kohli (1,093 balls - 2014-15) and Sunil Gavaskar (1,032 balls - 1977-78), to have faced 1,000 or more balls in a Test series in Australia.

The final session of Day one of the fourth Test is underway at the Sydney Cricket Ground and Pujara is well settled at the crease and has Ajinkya Rahane on the other end.