Pujara becomes fastest Indian to score 4000 Test runs; KL Rahul scores sixth successive fifty

After winning the first Test in Galle, India started the second Test once again on a positive note as they put in another strong performance on the opening day of the Test. Moreover, Pujara reached a new milestone in his career as he scored 4000 Test runs in his 50th Test. With this landmark, Pujara now joins an elite club which includes the likes of Rohan Kanhai, Bill Lawry, Mark Taylor, and Azhar Ali who also reached the landmark in their 50th Test. Coincidentally, Rahul Dravid also acquired this achievement in the same number of matches. Pujara is now the 15th Indian to reach this milestone. 

The Saurashtra batsman achieved this landmark in the 42nd over of the Indian innings as he took a couple of runs off Dilruwan Perera's bowling.

Pujara started his Test career against Australia in Bangalore in 2010. Before his 50th match, he had scored 3966 runs in 49 Tests at an average of over 52 which included 12 centuries. 

KL Rahul then gave Indian fans one more reason to smile on his return to the Test side. Having missed the first game due to illness, the 25-year-old Rahul scored his sixth consecutive half-century in Test cricket which now makes him stand alongside legendary batsmen like Gundappa Viswanath and Rahul Dravid.

This achievement also helped him to go past Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sanjay Manjrekar, and Navjot Sidhu, who all share a record for scoring five consecutive Test fifties. The Karnataka batsman had made five half centuries against Australia in the home series which helped India clinch the four match series 2-1.