Cheteshwar Pujara ends debate between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo with his favourite pick

The question of who is better Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo has created a huge divide among the footballing fraternity. Some believe that the Argentinian is among the greatest ever footballers to grace the pitch while others say the same about the Portuguese star.

Cheteshwar Pujara, the Indian batter, has also let his opinion on the famous question be known. Answering questions on Twitter, the 34-year-old said that Messi was his favourite player among Messi and Ronaldo.

Pujara is currently captaining the Sussex side in the Royal London One-Day Cup and is having a great time at it. So far, the player has scored three centuries in the tournament. His latest came in just 75 balls as he scored 132 off of just 90 balls. The quickfire knock featured 20 boundaries and two uncharacteristic sixes.

The Rajkot born has so far amassed 614 runs in eight matches in the Royal London One-Day Cup. His average is a mindboggling 102.33 with an even impressive strike rate of 116.28. Notably, Pujara does not play T20Is or ODIs for the national team but just the Tests.

He involved himself in the great debate about Messi or Ronaldo as he had a day off from the ongoing tournament. As many modern-day cricketers do, Pujara was also answering questions on Twitter when he came to this footballing debate that has bemused all for more than a decade now.

Messi vs Ronaldo: Stats

Messi and Ronaldo are two of the footballing greats who have broken multiple records. Ballon d’Or, arguably the award for the best footballer was hogged by these two for 10 years straight from 2008 to 2017. None other than these two won the coveted individual award between these years.

Even goal-scoring stats could not put one above the other. Messi has scored a total of 773 goals and 333 assists in 978 matches. Meanwhile, Ronaldo has scored a massive 1125 career goals and 230 assists in 815 matches.

Though Ronaldo has more goals, Messi’s minute per goal (104) towers over Ronaldo’s 112. In the Champions League, the story is similar as Ronaldo has scored 187 in 141 matches, while Messi has 125 in 156. Messi’s goal contribution (every 81 minutes) is superior to Ronaldo’s (89 minutes) as well.

Messi’s seven Ballon d’Or to Ronaldo’s five, though not equally matched, creates confusion in the minds of all. Cheteshwar Pujara, however, is certain that the PSG player is better than the Manchester United one.