SportAdda’s brand ambassador, Brett Lee has been left impressed with the performances of young uncapped Indian players in the Indian T20 League. The former Australia bowler has said that these players will play a key role in the title challenge this season
In a chat with Manish Batavia, the former pacer also talked about the potential role of Manish Pandey for Hyderabad and spoke highly of Sanju Samson’s captaincy,
“That’s what the Indian T20 League is about. We always hear about the overseas players coming in like Chris Gayle and David Warner but I’ve always said that the uncapped Indian players will stand up,” said Lee.
“That team that’s going to win the Indian T20 League 2021 in my opinion will be the young uncapped Indian players stepping up to support the overseas players.”
Binga impressed with captain Samson
Despite a substandard return with the ball, Rajasthan were right on the cusp of a brilliant victory in their tournament opener against Punjab. A certain Sanju Samson, playing his first Indian T20 League match as a captain, scored a brilliant half-century, but his knock was somehow overshadowed by his decision of not taking a single in the penultimate ball of the run chase.
Rajasthan went on to lose the game, but Lee thinks that it was indeed a right call from the batsman.
“The way I looked at it, I believe he made the right call. On one hand, you have Samson who knows the pace of the wicket. Should he have taken the single? I believe no. If Morris had played enough deliveries, I’d have said yeah give it Morris. But in a situation like this where you don’t take the single, you have to finish the show.
“I actually believe he is a fantastic captain. His leadership qualities were outstanding really. His timing, the way he brought the players on in terms of bowlers, the changes; they were all perfect. To me, he ticks every box,” Lee added.
Russell embodies T20’s unpredictability
Kolkata all-rounder Andre Russell became the first player to pick a five-fer in two overs in the Indian T20 League, but his effort against Mumbai went in vain as his team went on to lose the fixture by 10 runs. A lot has been said about Russell in recent times and this is what Binga had to say about the big West Indian.
“Look T20 cricket is such a fickle format because if you take that five-fer out of the equation and go back just less than a week, there were a lot of speculations about him being out of form last year,” Lee said.
“The talk of the town was that Russell would not even play the entire tournament this year. But he had a wonderful game and now everybody’s saying he is the best all-rounder,” he added.
Lee urges Manish Pandey to 'step up'
Manish Pandey has had decent outings for Team Hyderabad and despite his best efforts, the one-time Indian T20 League winners still remain winless in two games.
Speaking about the batsman, Lee has said that he was very much unimpressed with his shot selections and has urged him to up the ante. “I think he understands what he has to do in order to win the games.”
“I’m not trying to throw him under the bus, but I was perplexed with his shot selection and the way he got out. He is a senior player now and he needs to step up.”
