Hyderabad: Australian players’ experience of playing in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 would held the visitors in good stead in the seven-match One-day series against India starting tomorrow at Vadodara, feels in-form speedster Brett Lee.
Lee is one of the five members of the Australian squad who played in the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament which concluded in Hyderabad last night.
Apart from Lee, Peter Siddle, Doug Bollinger, Nathan Hauritz, Cameron White and Jon Holland are the other players who had a feel about the Indian conditions during the Champions League.
“I am looking forward to play the series. It is going to be a huge challenge to play against the super stars of India in front of their home crowd,” Lee told reporters after powering NSW to the inaugural CLT20 title last night.
“But the experience I and other players have had on these wickets during the tournament, I hope it will keep us in good stead. Hopefully, this experience will helps us in the forthcoming seven ODIs,” he said.
NSW were in tatters before Lee’s 31-ball 48 powered them to a competitive 159 for nine and then the tearaway pacer returned to claim two early wickets to help his side beat Trinidad & Tobago by 41 runs in the final.
Lee, however, refused to predict any favourites for the high-profile series, saying, “We will be giving our best to win but I don’t want to make any prediction.”
“We obviously don’t come over here to lose matches but the first couple of games will give a clear picture of how the series is going to pan out. As I have said, the experience of Champions League will help us,” he said.
“But we know India is a great side. They have got experience in Sachin Tendulkar who has been around for 20 years now,” Lee added.
Bureau Report
