Brett Lee reveals Australia’s plans while bowling to Sachin Tendulkar during his playing days

Former Australian cricketer Brett Lee gave insights into the Australian team’s discussions regarding Sachin Tendulkar on Friday. The speedster, known for his brutal pace, paid tribute to Tendulkar on his official YouTube channel as he talked about the first time he bowled to him in 1999 during a tour game.

In the video, the former Australian pacer also revealed that the team always made sure to never talk to Tendulkar when the batter was at the crease, as it would further trigger him to play even better.

“You see in his eyes, he wants it. When you are bowling to Sachin Tendulkar, you see that look in the eyes and it felt like the eye of the tiger. Someone who wants to get into the battle,” Lee said.

“We as the Australian cricket team always said to each other, ‘don’t speak to Sachin Tendulkar on the field’. Because if you sledge him on the field, you know he will be out there batting forever. So we just tried to keep our mouth shut and get on with the game,” the seamer recalled on his official YouTube channel.

Tendulkar scored the bulk of his career runs against Australia. He amassed 3630 runs in Tests at an average of 55, including 11 hundreds. In ODIs, the ‘Master-Blaster’ scored 3077 runs against Australia at an average of 44 and also had nine hundreds to his name.

Tendulkar and Lee had a great rivalry during their playing days. Both played around 42 matches against each other, 12 Tests and 30 ODIs, in which Lee dismissed Tendulkar 14 times. The Australian speedster has dismissed Tendulkar for the most number of times in international cricket.

Lee has 380 wickets to his name in ODI cricket with an average of 23 and a strike rate of 29. He was highly successful against India in the format, picking 55 wickets at an average of 21 and an economy of 4.49. The 45-year-old also has 310 wickets to his name in Tests.