Former Team India batter Cheteshwar Pujara ranked himself among Test cricket's best No. 3s of this century for a Cricinfo video. The ranking was divided into four different categories, starting with the top 20.

As the discussion was among all of this century who played in the Whites as No.3 for their respective nations, ranking the batters was not easy for Cheteshwar Pujara. But the former Team India batter, who was known for his calmness and copybook batting, took very little time to conclude the topic. The video lasted for only 45 seconds.

Cheteshwar Pujara keeps himself in the Top 20 and Top 10 of the rankings

Cheteshwar Pujara kept himself in the Top 20 and Top 10, but failed to keep himself in the Top 5 and Top 3 categories.

"Yes," Pujara replied when he was asked, 'would you put yourself in the top 20 greatest number three batters this century in Tests?', and said, "Yes, maybe the answer is yes," when the person behind the camera asked him whether he would like to put himself in the Top 10 as well.

Rahul Dravid in Cheteshwar Pujara's Top 5 and Top 3

Pujara refused to put himself in the Top 5 and Top 3. According to the former Team India cricketer, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla and Kumar Sangakkara were the cricketers who deserved to be in the top five bracket.

"But when it comes to the top five, I may not put myself in the top five," he added.

Where does Cheteshwar Pujara rank himself among Test cricket's best No. 3s of this century? 👀 https://t.co/NhoBGWiYii

— Cricinfo (@cricinfo) October 19, 2026

He picked the top three among those five former batters. For the final set of players, which was the Top 3. Former Team India batter Rahul Dravid, former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis and former South Africa opener Hashim Amla made their places in Pujara's 'Test cricket's best No. 3s of this century' rankings.

Cheteshwar Pujara's Test career with Team India

Cheteshwar Pujara, who made his Team India debut, played only 5 matches for India in ODIs but retired as one of the best Test batters of his century as the No.3 batter. Before taking retirement from international cricket, he scored 7195 runs in 103 Tests and 176 innings with a batting average of 43.60. He decorated his Test career with 19 half-centuries and 35 centuries.

The stats provide only some hint about his career, but not the entire picture. Pujara had to deal with a serious knee injury, which dragged his international career into uncertainty. After enduring the knee injury, his white-ball career became limited, but because of his defensive batting and skills to adapt to conditions with technical brilliance, he retained his place in the team.

He was at his prime during the Test series in Australia in 2018-19. Behind India's historic Test series win against Australia in Australia, Cheteshwar Pujara played a key role. In four Tests in the series, he faced 1258 balls and scored three centuries. During the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, the batter faced 928 balls across four Tests.