The 33-year-old has played 64 T20 matches during his career, though his last came in 2019 when he opened the batting for Saurashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
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Brett Lee has questioned whether Cheteshwar Pujara has the game to be successful in T20 cricket after the India Test No.3 was handed his first Indian Premier League contract since 2014.
Pujara, known for his stoicism at the crease rather than a desire to take risks and score quickly, earned a deal with Chennai Super Kings in February’s auction, having gone unsold since representing Kings XI Punjab in 2014.
The 33-year-old has played 64 T20 matches during his career, though his last came in 2019 when he opened the batting for Saurashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
It has left Lee, the former Australia fast bowler, wondering whether Pujara is capable of transferring his red-ball game across to the world’s premier T20 franchise tournament.
“You can look at two different aspects,” he said, speaking to SportsAdda. “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.
“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.”
It is hard to see where Pujara will fit into Chennai Super Kings’ line-up, given the return of Suresh Raina, who missed last year’s tournament but is available once again to MS Dhoni’s side.
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