India vs Australia: Cheteshwar Pujara gets guard of honour from teammates - Watch Video

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India batting heavyweight Cheteshwar Pujara on Friday became the 13th Indian player to play hundred Test matches for India. The 35-year-old Saurashtra star was felicitated by the BCCI ahead of the match with former India captain Sunil Gavaskar presenting Pujara his 100th Test cap. Father, wife and teammates of the right-hand batter were present at the memorable moment

Later before entering the field, members of the Indian test team formed a guard of honour as Pujara walked through it with a lot of grace, humility and smile. The likes of Srikar Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Siraj hugged and shook hands with the player to celebrate the landmark achievement.

"To play for your country is a dream and to play a hundred times and that too in the ultimate format, Test cricket is something really special. It requires a hundred times more effort, hundred times more determination, hundred times just about everything - self belief and also a bit of luck. Pujara epitomises exactly what Test cricket is all about. Cheteshwar Pujara has worked very hard for a place in the team and has done India proud," Gavaskar said praising the very gutsy cricketer.

Here's the video

Pujara thanks Gavaskar

Pujara had thanked Gavaskar for inspiring and helping him achieve the "unthinkable". He appealed to the youngsters to work hard and play Test cricket for India.

“It is an honour to receive this cap from you, legends like you have inspired me (on getting the cap from Gavaskar). I wanted to play for India as a youngster but I never thought I'd get to 100 Test matches. Test cricket is the ultimate format for me, it challenges you just like life,” Pujara told Gavaskar during the felicitation ceremony.

“To all the youngsters, I'd encourage y'all to work hard to play Test cricket for India. I'd like to thank my wife, my family, everyone in BCCI and all my teammates who've supported me throughout this journey,” he added.

Pujara had made his Test debut against Australia back in 2010 in Bengaluru. Before the start of the match, he had scored 7021 runs at an average of 44.15. He has 19 hundreds and 34 fifties to his name in the format.