India feeling the absence of Dravid, Ganguly: Lee
Australian speedster Brett Lee reckons that the young Indian cricket team was struggling to find its feet in the absence of experienced batsmen like Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.
"It's always tougher for younger guys to come through immediately. (Rahul) Dravid and (Sourav) Ganguly played a lot of cricket this summer and were there since the start. The new guys would take some time to find their feet," Lee said.
"Though they are quality players, they have their work cut out," he said referring to India's none-too-impressive show in the previous two one-day matches.
The Australian speedster singled out his side's bowling as a key factor in tomorrow's match against India.
"We are bowling collectively good. I took a fiver in Brisbane, Nathan (Bracken) did it in Sydney. Johnson is proving to be a good back up. (James) Hopes, (Brad) Hogg, (Andrew) Symonds and (Michael) Clarke, we think we have good options in this area," Lee said.
Lee also said that he stood as good a chance of picking wickets in one-dayers as he did in Tests.
"In ODIs, the batsmen look to score and it generally means more chances of picking up wickets. In Tests, you got to be more patient.
"Variations is the key word. You bowl slower, bouncer, seam, try new things basically all the time," he added.
Lee reiterated that in his book, Sachin Tendulkar was the best batsman going around in world cricket. He was sure that the Indian master would soon find his form in one-day cricket but hoped it wouldn't be against his side.
"He is the best batsman going around. He has had a great summer and he would soon start firing in one-dayers too. Hopefully, he wouldn't do it against us.
"He is not only a great player but also is a great bloke. That is why he is right up there at the top and gets the respect. You generally find out how good a cricketer you are when you play against him."
Though Lee was pretty confident about his side's chances, he did not want to predict who between the two other sides could reach the finals of the CB series.
"Both sides have world class players: (Sanath) Jayasuriya, (Kumar) Sangakkara, Tendulkar and (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni.
"We are trying to prepare ourselves as best as we can without bothering about others. We know if we can win tomorrow, our confidence will be sky high when we take on Sri Lanka in Perth."
'I felt for Ollie Pope': Atherton picks 'ball of the game' from Ahmedabad Test
- With as many as 28 of the 30 wickets to fall to spin, it can get difficult to judge one ball that stood out in the match.
‘That’s something one would want to repeat’: Tendulkar’s message for Axar
- India vs England: Picking up a five-for in three innings in a row is no trivial feat, and Tendulkar expects left-arm spinner Axar Patel to once again deliver the goods in the fourth Test.
Mathews to captain Sri Lanka in T20s as visa issue grounds Shanaka
Sune Luus to lead SA women in India; Niekerk, Tryon still out due to injuries
‘Even on flat tracks, he's bowling so well':Wasim names best bowler in the world
Jaffer reacts to Ashwin's fiery press conference ahead of IND vs ENG 4th Test
- India vs England: “Ashwin taking English wickets both on and off the field,” Wasim Jaffer tweeted quoting Ashwin’s reply to a question from an English journalist about the Ahmedabad pitch.
Who defines good pitches, asks Ashwin
- Ashwin is an angry man over what he sees as too much importance being given in India to criticism of the pitches prepared for the second Test in Chennai and the pink-ball game in Ahmedabad.
As soon as it starts spinning, everyone seems to start crying about it: Lyon
- Australian spinner Nathan Lyon has lent his support to the pitch as he said that 'everyone in the world seems to start crying’ when the ball starts spinning.
'Why would you talk about the surface and sell that to us time and time again?'
- Several former cricketers including Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, and Michael Vaughan have criticised the pitch, but off-spinner R Ashwin believes that the conversation about the surface is getting out of hand.
'No time for you as human': Steyn slams commentator for 'mid-life crisis' remark
- Miffed with the remarks, Steyn took to Twitter and asked: "Question Which commentator said I have a mid-life crisis?"
Mohammad Azharuddin's interesting idea to help batsmen on 'rank turners'
- Batsmen from both India and England struggled on the spinning surface of the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the venue which hosted the third Test of the series.
Huge ramifications for Test cricket if Ahmedabad pitch is acceptable: Lloyd
- The third Test match between India and England ended in two days with India winning the contest by 10 wickets to take a 2-1 lead in the four-match series.
PCB CEO Wasim Khan likely to get extension at BOG meeting
Ball makers SG to conduct more trials after two day pink ball Test
