Australia fast bowling legend Brett Lee while lauding Cheteshwar Pujara as a terrific batsman said he is not sure if the latter will do well in the T20s or not.
Cheteshwar Pujara has established himself as one of the best red-ball cricketers going around the world. However his performance in white-ball cricket especially the T20s has left a lot to aspire.
Since 2014 the veteran right-handed batsman failed to grab any bidders in the IPL auction. In IPL 2021 auction, that took place in February, Pujara grabbed the headlines as he was roped in by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at his base price of INR 50 lakh.
With Pujara back in IPL set up after 7 years, there have been many talks over the last few days about whether India’s No. 3 in Test cricket will make it to CSK's Playing XI or not.
IPL 2021: WATCH – Cheteshwar Pujara displays range of strokes in CSK nets with new batting stance
Talking about the same former Australian pacer Brett Lee while hailing Cheteshwar Pujara as a terrific batsman expressed his doubts over his abilities in T20 cricket.
“You can look at two different aspects. Firstly, he is a terrific cricketer – there is no doubt about his ability, no doubt about his technique or his determination to bat time. But when you look at the other side of things, you've also got to think that this isn't Test cricket, this is T20s. It's over in 90 minutes, 20 overs," Brett Lee said on the show titled T20 Crazy on SportsAdda.
Brett Lee further said that it will be interesting to see how Pujara, who loves batting long, adjusts to the fast-paced T20I format.
"You've got to score runs as quickly as possible. Can he do that under pressure? Maybe he can. What we've seen recently in the Australian series is that he loves to bat time so look it's an interesting call. I'm a big fan of Pujara, I think he has a lot to offer. But let's see if he can make it in this format," he said.
MS Dhoni led-franchise will be Cheteshwar Pujara’s fourth IPL franchise after representing KKR, RCB, and PBKS. In 30 IPL matches, the veteran batsman has scored 390 runs at an average of less than 21 and a strike rate of 99.74.
(Sports Adda Inputs)
