If I had to bowl to Pujara, I would have prayed: Brett Lee

India, on Monday, finally ended their long and painful 71-year old wait to win a Test series in Australia. The historic tour, meanwhile, will always be remembered for Cheteshwar Pujara’s remarkable displays. The marathon man of India had sucked the life out of the Australian bowlers as well as fielders with his exhilarating displays with the bat. He was named as the Man of the Match and the Player of the Series for the number of runs he has scored in the series, and the impact it created. One among the many who hailed him to be the difference between the two sides is Brett Lee.

Pujara finished the series with a staggering 521 runs with the help of three tons including an epic knock of 193 in the final Test. During the course of the series, he became the fifth Indian batsman after Rahul Dravid (1203 in 2003/04), Vijay Hazare (1192 in 1947/48), Virat Kohli (1093 in 2014/15) and Sunil Gavaskar (1032 in 1977/98) to face more than 1000 balls in a Test series in Australia. Overall, Pujara handled as many as 1258 balls while spending 1868 minutes in the middle.

Not just that, he is now also only the third Indian after Kohli and Gavaskar to score three or more centuries in a Test series in Australia.

Brett Lee hails Pujara

Former Australia speedster Brett Lee lavished praise on India’s number three. The legendary bowler went as far as saying that he would have prayed before bowling to Pujara.

“If I had to bowl to Pujara, I would have prayed! Seriously, he is so good and puts such a heavy price on his wicket. Pujara really is a freak of nature… Look at his statistics… Three hundreds. Our best? Harris’s 79 in the first innings at the SCG,” Lee was quoted as saying by The Telegraph. He further said that Pujar made the difference for India in the series.

With the fourth and final Test ending in a draw due to poor weather, India bagged the series 2-1. They had entered the game with an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match series following the wins in Adelaide and Melbourne. Although a draw would have been enough to secure the series, the world number one side went all in to get another win before poor weather quashed their hopes.

[interaction id=”5c31bc7eb1837611a39fe41e”]

Get the latest Cricket News and updates from Australia vs India series, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.