Australia's tearaway fast bowler Brett Lee said it would be a real challenge to bowl in India against their strong batting line-up during the tri-series from October 23 to November 18.
Lee, who is in Mumbai as a brand ambassador for a watch company, said hehad great respect and camaraderie for the Indian batsmen and was looking forward to thechallenge of bowling on Indian wickets.
"Though I am used to Indian conditions as I have come here with the under-19 cricket team in 1994 and three yearslater I had a stint at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai, the forthcoming tri-series would be a tough one," he said.
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"The Indians have Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Saurav Ganguly who form a very strongbatting line-up. It is hard to dislodge them on their own backyard," said Lee, one of the fastest bowlers in the world.
Joining the sledging debate triggered off by Sunil Gavaskar in his Sir ColinCowdrey lecture at Lord's recently, Lee said, "There is no harm in sledging provided one does not get toocarried away. Everybody has the right to form his own opinion and Sunny has his own but sledging will be part and parcel ofthe game".
On India's tour of Australia starting late this year, Lee said,"The Indians are always a tough side to beat. But we have avery fine pace attack, spearheaded by Glenn McGrath and supported by me, Jason Gillespie and Andy Bichel... It shouldbe a very good series for both the sides."
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Lee said he was looking forward to bowling before the boisterous Indian crowd. "It will be fantastic to play infront of a packed crowd. I enjoy the crowd though sometimes it can be unnerving...All in all it will befun.
"We have been playing good cricket for the past one-and-half years and if we continue to play in the same way we cando well in the tri-series which I am sure will be interesting", the speedster added.
Praising India's performance in 2003 World Cup in South Africa where they lost to the Aussies in the final, Lee said,"I think the Indians played very well in the World Cup losing just two matches (both to Australia) and they have verytalented youngsters who would do wonders in the near future."
Recalling the World Cup final, Lee said "It is not easy to chase a 350-target in the final of a World Cup and once wegot Sachin Tendulkar out cheaply, we knew we had the Indians on the back foot and we could win.
"It was a special World Cup for me personally as it was my first World Cup and when we won it, it was like icing onthe cake," Lee said.
PTI
