Born on 25th January 1988, the Indian Test team's no.3 Cheteshwar Pujara celebrates his 32nd birthday today.
Making his debut in 2010, the resilient batsman has been a prolific run-scorer for India in the game's toughest format since his comeback to the side in 2012 after Rahul Dravid's retirement; piling on an astonishing 5,740 runs in 75 Tests at an average touching 50, with 18 hundreds and twenty-four half-centuries.
The right-hander is an excellent player of spin and uses his strong temperament and patience wonderfully while tackling the toughest of pacers.
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Apart from having a legendary record in familiar conditions in India, Pujara has also had an invaluable contribution in the most recent Indian wins overseas in South Africa, England and Australia. Especially Australia where his 521 runs, including three centuries, in seven innings came in India's historic first-ever Test series victory down under.
The quiet, unflamboyant gentleman is one of the most important members of a top-ranked Indian team that will now face more difficult challenges going deeper into its World Test Championship campaign, starting with the next month's two-match rubber in New Zealand.
Pujara remains one of the most likable cricketers going around as one could see in the lovely birthday wishes that poured in for him.
Here are the best of those tweets:
