Australian speedster Brett Lee said the upcomingIndia-Australia Test series could be termed as the 'unofficial World Championship'and was more important than the Ashes.
"Ashes has some tradition, history. However, Indiahas been playing really well for the last two years under Saurav Ganguly. I feelthey are perhaps closest (to us). So, in the present context this series can berated as the unofficial World Championship," Lee said.
The Australian pacer lavishly praised the Indianbatting line-up saying they were the most difficult to bowl in world cricketnow.
"V.V.S. Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar,Virender Sehwag and Ganguly are all class batsmen," he said.
But Lee singled out Tendulkar as the toughest to bowlat. "It has been very satisfying that I have got his wicket on a couple ofoccasions."
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Lee said he was looking forward to the coming engagement in India beginningOctober, as he had never played in a Test series here.
Asked about Australia's chances, Lee said, "Itwill be difficult for us. They have a strong batting line-up. But yes, I thinkit is possible to beat India in their backyard. Australia has set a certainbenchmark in world cricket.
"Ricky Ponting has led the side from thefront just like Ganguly. They are the two best captains in present day worldcricket," the 27-year-old bowler said.
The pacer felt his side's 3-0 victory over Sri Lanka inMarch had given them a lot of confidence in the run up to the Indian tour.
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Referring to India's recent tour Down Under, he saidthe Indians did not encounter the sort of wickets one expected to get inAustralia.
"When you tour Australia, you expect bouncywickets just as India normally has spin friendly tracks. But in the recentseries, India got to play on slow, flat wickets. And when they got a fast wicketin Perth, they crumbled," he said.
Asked to rate the new breed of fast bowlers in Indian cricket, Lee said it wasgood news for the game that India now had good quicks.
He was impressed with (Lakshmipathy) Balaji and (Irfan)Pathan though, he said, he had seen very little of them.
"They have pace and fire, essential qualities forfast bowlers," Lee, who has taken 139 Test wickets with an average of31.66, said.
Lee said speed was more important for pace bowlers thancontrol. "But it is not that they should have only pace and no control. InAustralia we teach the boys that they must bowl with speed."
PTI
