Pujara 256* flattens India Red

Having passed 700 in their last match, India Blue declared seven runs short of that mark in the Duleep Trophy final, with Cheteshwar Pujara scoring his tenth first-class double-hundred, before Pankaj Singh ripped into India Red's top order with wickets off successive balls in his first over.

With just over ten days to go for India's first Test against New Zealand, Pujara has made 166 and 256* in back-to-back first-class matches, suggesting a return to the insatiable ways of his best years. Pujara now has as many first-class double-hundreds as Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid; Vijay Merchant, with 11, is the only Indian batsman above him.

For the majority of the day, Pujara was kept company by his Saurashtra team-mates Sheldon Jackson and Ravindra Jadeja. After a shaky start, and with the benefit of three lives along the way, Jackson settled into some fine strokeplay to bring up his 11th first-class ton. His 134 featured 15 fours and two sixes as he shared a 243-run fifth-wicket stand with Pujara. Jackson's dismissal brought Jadeja to the crease with the team's total at 605. Jadeja scored a free-spirited 48 off 66, hitting three fours and two sixes to put the finishing touches on India Blue's marathon innings.

But India Red's misery did not end there. Bowling over the wicket to the left-handed batsmen, Pankaj got the ball to cut back in sharply, trapping Abhinav Mukund plumb in front and sneaking one between Sudip Chatterjee's bat and pad to clip the top of middle. His hat-trick ball to Yuvraj Singh did a tad too much and Yuvraj survived through to stumps for an unconvincing 0* off 26, his side tottering at 16 for 2.

Though Pujara had begun the day on 111 with a well-set Dinesh Karthik for company, the first session was more testing than the batsmen might have anticipated. It opened with a wicket off the first ball, when Karthik, playing a loose drive away from his body, edged an innocuous delivery from Pradeep Sangwan onto his stumps.

Throughout the first session, the India Red quicks showed substantial improvement from their day-one display, with Sangwan and Nathu Singh forcing the batsmen to play far more often and benefiting from occasional lateral movement when the ball pitched on one of the ever-widening cracks. Jackson, in particular, looked uncomfortable early on. His first 17 balls featured a number of plays and misses but not a single run. When he eventually got off the mark, it was courtesy an edge off Nathu that just evaded Yuvraj Singh at first slip.

The fast bowlers' improved showing seemed to rub off on the rest of the attack. Stuart Binny created the first genuine chance of the day when a length ball stopped on Jackson, who drove it in the air to the bowler's left. Though Binny got a hand to it, he was unable to hold on. Then Jackson, batting on 29, top-edged an attempted late cut off Amit Mishra and Yuvraj shelled a slip catch that ought to have been taken.

Having got through the tough initial period, Pujara and Jackson began to impose themselves. In addition to his usual repertoire of strokes, Pujara unfurled a couple of neat reverse-sweeps against Mishra. After his two reprieves, Jackson gradually became more assured. Pujara brought up his double ton and Jackson his ton and, though the latter was reprieved once again when Dhawan dropped him on 108 off Kuldeep Yadav, the batsmen were now firmly in control.

As the day wore on, India Red's intensity dropped sharply. After the tea interval, Gurkeerat Singh and Kuldeep dished out a number of unthreatening overs that enabled the batsmen to milk their way to a double-century stand. Both tended to drop short, allowing the batsmen to rock back to cut or pull or clip the ball through midwicket. Their slowness in the air also offered opportunities for Pujara and Jackson to skip to the pitch and smother the spin.

It all seemed a bit too easy. The introduction of Yuvraj did little to change that. Nor did Mishra's switch to bowling around the wicket. As the total ticked past 500 and then past 600, India Red spread the field and seemed content to let the game drift.

Mishra had a better day overall, having cut out the rank half-trackers that were a persistent feature of his first-day effort. However, he only really settled into a decent rhythm after dinner, under lights, and was rewarded with the wicket of Jackson, who offered a return catch driving a ball that had stopped on him. The other spinners, though, remained too short, giving the batsmen time to adjust to the turn on offer.

When Mukund was brought on in the 167th over to bowl his very occasional legspin, Pujara duly pulled a long-hop for four to bring up yet another milestone, his 250, with a boundary. Mukund, though, had Jadeja chopping on in his next over at which point India Blue declared.