Former Australian pacer Brett Lee is known for his ferocious pace and toe-crushing yorkers. However, the 2003 World Cup winner has said that he hated to bowl to one batsman: Sachin Tendulkar.
The battle between Lee and Tendulkar, two world-class performers in their respective areas, was always one to watch out for even though the Australian team had other bowling stalwarts.
Tendulkar and Lee enjoyed some fierce on-field battles as they came up against each other on several occasions while representing their respective countries. And although Lee said that he hated bowling to the Indian batting great, he did get the better of Tendulkar on 14 occasions – 5 in Tests and 9 in ODIs – which is the most number of times a bowler has dismissed Tendulkar in international cricket.
Speaking with former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar on the latter’s YouTube channel, Bree Lee said: “I hated bowling to Sachin, because he was just so good. Great technique.”
Lee, however, snubbed Tendulkar and picked the South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis as the greatest cricketer of all time.
“I loved playing against fast bowlers. Jacques Kallis is the best all-rounder, no question. He is the best cricketer ever,” said Lee.
Kallis achieved greatness in both disciplines – batting and bowling. He was prolific with the bat and was a pure pacer with the ball. He is the fifth-highest run-scorer in international cricket, amassing 25534 runs, and, with 577 wickets, Kallis is South Africa’s all-time fifth leading wicket-taker.
Speaking of Brett Lee, the New South Wales speedster made his Test debut in 1999 at the MCG against India, ODI debut a year later, and T20I debut in 2005. He was a key part of the Australian bowling attack in the 2003 World Cup after Shane Warne was banned a day before the tournament began.
He snared 310 Test wickets in 76 Tests, 380 ODI scalps in 221 matches and 28 wickets in 25 T20Is. His last international game came in 2012 and continued playing T20 cricket till 2015. Brett Lee is now a regular feature in the commentary box, sharing his insights and knowledge with the fans.
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