Published 12:14 IST, November 8th 2019
Brett Lee turns 43: Watch the Aussie ace take 5 wickets against India
Brett Lee who retired from international cricket in July 2012 turns 43 today. A look at his Test debut vs India where he picked a fifer to guide Australia home.
Former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee, who retired from international cricket in July 2012 turns 43 on November 8. After his retirement from the international arena, he continued playing T20s in both the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Big Bash League (BBL) before retiring from all forms of cricket in January 2015. Brett Lee has been synonymous to fast bowling during his playing days.
Brett Lee was one of the quickest bowlers in the world. His pace rarely dropped below the 145 kph mark and his fastest delivery was a clocked at 161.1 kph (100.1 mph) against New Zealand in 2005. Brett Lee was doing extremely well in the domestic circuit. There were calls for Lee to be included in the national squad by the late 1990s. Steve Waugh who was then the captain of Australia and had played with him for New South Wales and was impressed by Lee and pushed for his inclusion into the national team. He was eventually chosen in the final 14 for the Test series against Pakistan in 1999 but could not make it to the starting 11. However, he duly made his Test debut against India in 1999 in Melbourne.
Brett Lee's impressive debut
India had put Australia to bat first after winning the toss. Australia went on to post 410 with fifties from Michael Slater, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist. India were bowled out for 238 in the first innings as Tendulkar was the lone fighter as he scored a gritty century. Lee was the chief predator as he rattled the Indian batting line-up, picking a fifer in his first international innings. His first wicket was of Sadagoppan Ramesh followed by Rahul Dravid, MSK Prasad, Ajit Agarkar and Javagal Srinath.
Australia scored 238/5 in the second innings as they declared and set India a target of 376 runs. Indian batting collapsed once again as they were bowled out for 195 and lost the match by a massive 180 runs. Brett Lee picked up two wickets of Dravid and Srinath.
Brett Lee's magical spell against India
Lee set the stage alight with his raw pace and showed the world what he was capable of through his performance on debut. He went on to play 221 ODIs and 76 Test matches and has notched up more than 300 wickets in both the formats. Lee was a real charmer off the field as well and has a huge fan following, especially in India.
Updated 13:51 IST, November 8th 2019