• Cheteshwar Pujara and Mohammad Rizwan made their debut for Sussex in County Championship Division Two 2022 on Thursday.

  • At stumps on Day 1, Derbyshire were 327 for the loss of two wickets.

India-Pakistan fans celebrate as Cheteshwar Pujara and Mohammad Rizwan make their debut for Sussex
Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammad Rizwan make their debut for Sussex (Image Source: Twitter)

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India’s batting phenom Cheteshwar Pujara and Pakistan’s wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan on Thursday (April 14), made their debuts for England’s County team Sussex. The duo was named in the final XI for their game against Derbyshire in the ongoing County Championship Division Two 2022.

Notably, Pujara has previously represented teams such as Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and Nottinghamshire and will continue to play in the current County Championship and upcoming Royal London One-Day tournament.

When it comes to Rizwan, this is the first occasion he has represented a county side. He will be only available for County Championship and T20 cricket until mid-July because of his international commitments.

In the ongoing match, Derbyshire is batting first, so the fans will have to wait for Pujara and Rizwan to showcase their talent. The hosts are in a comfortable position after the end of Day 1, thanks to outstanding innings by Shan Masood, who smacked a remarkable double century.

Masood came to open the innings and is currently unbeaten on 201 from 271 deliveries with the help of 22 boundaries. Similarly, Wayne Madsen was also undefeated at 88 from 226 balls, and the duo has taken Derbyshire to a commendable total of 327/2 in 96 overs on the opening day.

When it comes to Pujara and Rizwan, their numbers in international cricket are quite exceptional. The Indian star has played 95 Test matches, scoring 6713 runs at an average of 43.88. He has 32 half-centuries and 18 hundreds to his name in the longest format of the game.

On the other hand, Pakistan’s Rizwan has played 22 Test matches so far and has scored 1112 runs at an average of 42.76. The Peshawar-born cricketer has hit seven fifties and a couple of centuries in the red-ball format.

As soon as the line-up was announced by Sussex, fans from both sides of the border couldn’t control their excitement and expressed happiness on the micro-blogging platform.

Here is how fans reacted:

https://twitter.com/Varunkumar4303/status/1513500033219379203

https://twitter.com/Zain_Speaks/status/1514563455700901893

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AKSHAT GAUR
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