It will be a thing to see if Cheteshwar Pujara can do well in IPL: Brett Lee

As Cheteshwar Pujara gears up to prove himself in the IPL, former Australia speedster Brett Lee has expressed his doubts over the batsman’s abilities in T20 cricket. One of the best Test batsmen in the world, Pujara’s performance in white-ball cricket especially the T20s has left a lot to be desired. Nothing describes his struggles in T20s better than the fact that he did not find any buyer for himself in the IPL from 2015 to 2020.

Till 2014, he plied his trade for Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Punjab Kings. Since being released by Punjab Kings after IPL 2014, Pujara kept registering himself in the auction but could not get a contract. He finally got one in February this year when Chennai Super Kings (CSK) secured his services at his base price of INR 50 lakh.

Pujara will be desperate to justify CSK’s faith in him by putting up a good performance in IPL 2021. His recovery in IPL so far has been absolutely disappointing. In 30 IPL games so far, he has managed to score only 390 runs at an average of less than 21 and a strike rate of 99.74. Only time will tell how the Test star fares in the upcoming edition of the tournament.

Let’s see if Cheteshwar Pujara can make it in this format: Lee

Ahead of Cheteshwar Pujara’s much-anticipated return to IPL, Brett Lee has said he is not sure about the batsman doing well in the T20s. The Australia legend started by hailing Pujara as a terrific batsman before expressing his doubts over the India star’s ability to do well in the shortest format of the game. Lee also said that Pujara has a lot to offer with the bat.

“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,” Lee said on the show titled T20 Crazy on SportsAdda.

“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,” Lee explained.