Brett Lee interview: ‘Not what I expected,’ says ex-speedster after Pakistan’s thrashing of India

“It was not what I expected, put it that way.”

Pakistan’s 10-wicket thrashing of India on Sunday certainly did take the cricketing world by surprise, especially the ruthless manner with which Babar Azam’s men coasted to victory without losing a single wicket and with more than two overs to spare, and how they maintained a stranglehold on the powerful Indian batting lineup.

Former Australia pacer Brett Lee, too, was among those who backed India to come out on top in their 13th meeting with their neighbours in a World Cup match.

“Firstly, full credit goes to Pakistan. I thought the way they played was outstanding. I actually had India to win. I had a real good case for India to dominate on that particular day because of their players on show. You think about India, they pretty much have played the last month or so in the same conditions whereas Pakistan haven’t. They hadn’t played on those wickets, they weren’t familiar with the grounds, they’ve played a lot of cricket there of course, but recently haven’t been familiar with the grounds.

“I just thought that coming off a lot of good cricket for the IPL that India would have to be favourites but as I said, full credit goes to Pakistan,” said Lee, Brand Ambassador, Jacob’s Creek, in a chat with Firstpost.

The win, which helped Pakistan break the 29-year curse that saw the supremely talented and mercurial side fail to beat their South Asian arch-rivals in ODI and T20I World Cups until the Sunday result, certainly was a humbling moment for Virat Kohli’s men, who were tagged as one of the strong favourites for the title before the start of the Super 12s.

Suddenly, it is the Greenshirts who are instead now among the strong contenders for the ultimate glory. This all the more given they would go on to beat New Zealand a couple of days later to extend the perfect start to their T20 World Cup campaign.

“Yeah look they’re always going to be the team that could go and upset, and give it a real good shake. They’ve got success in all formats, they’ve got some amazing players, so I think definitely Pakistan have a chance to go on,” added Lee, who has more than 700 international wickets to his credit, 380 of which came in one-dayers.

So where did Virat Kohli and company really mess it up when it came to Sunday’s disastrous outing?

“You’d have to say not building partnerships with the bat. Virat Kohli was obviously outstanding. He was probably the only batsman to take it to the Pakistani bowlers. The score was okay, I thought the score could’ve been defended. But then when you have a look at where they lacked, I mean they did not get one single wicket.

“So I thought the bowlers unfortunately had a day off. And that happens in sport. There are times when you as a player don’t have the perfect game. But unfortunately their bowlers collectively probably didn’t have the perfect game together, and when that happens, obviously that’s when they suffer such a big loss,” said Lee, who goes by the nickname ‘Binga’.

There were also a plenty of questions around the dew factor that played out in Sunday’s game. As expected, the towels did start coming out early during the Pakistan innings as the Indians found it difficult to grip the ball. Dew has always played a role in white-ball games in this part of the world, with chasing also being a preferred option in the Indian Premier League matches that took place here last year and in the second leg of the 2021 edition.

“I think dew is definitely a factor. I think it’s a good point that you’ve raised. I don’t believe it’s the only reason why they lost. You can’t sort of blame everything on dew. You can blame a small part where you can’t hold on to the ball, the ball gets greasy, it gets wet, and they’ve got measures in place too. They spray the ground to try and stop the dew and to rope it.

“However, there’s times when it can be luck of the draw and the toss can be very, very important, and unfortunately didn’t go their way for India,” said Lee.

As for Australia, the side that have won five ODI world titles and have dominated Test cricket for so long but have somehow fallen short as far as the shortest format of the game is concerned, Lee believes the squad that Aaron Finch has been given this time around could certainly help them end their wait for a maiden T20 World Cup win.

“The chances for the title, I think this is probably the best opportunity in terms of the team that we as Australians have got a chance to take home the silverware. It’s been the only trophy that’s not in the cabinet. Test match cricket’s been fantastic, we’ve done well in the one-day format. But the shorter version with the white-ball, we’ve struggled in T20 cricket. So I believe that yes Australia can win this ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

“I thought the game against South Africa was a little bit scratchy in terms of their performance, but they got over the line. Now, at the end of the day, as long as you win and get those points, that’s the way to keep advancing throughout the tournament. So, I was pleased for them. Looking forward to David Warner getting out there and getting some big runs as with Aaron Finch,” said Lee, who picked his dismissal of Sadagopan Ramesh — his maiden Test wicket — in 1999 as his most prized dismissal of his 718 international wickets.

Lee was also effusive in his praise for the Aussie bowling department, which has clicked as a unit so far in their campaign, especially in their opening game against South Africa, and also noted pacer Josh Hazlewood’s recent progress as a white-ball operator after being considered a red-ball specialist for the longest part.

Hazlewood was one of the bowling mainstays for Chennai Super Kings in their successful IPL 2021 campaign, in which they ended up winning their fourth IPL title under MS Dhoni’s leadership.

“I think that not only has the IPL helped, I believe that playing a tournament so close and doing so well in, I mean you got over 11 wickets throughout the playoff stages from nine matches. So Josh Hazlewood, to me is going from strength to strength, almost first picked.

And then you’ve got the two other wonderful world-class fast bowlers in Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, and all three deserve their place. With the spin of Adam Zampa. And I won’t say part-time spin because he’s not a part-time spinner, he’s a genuine all-rounder, in Glenn Maxwell. The two spin guys that can do their business, whether the top of the order with the new ball, or through the middle period,” Lee said.

Talking about his partnership with Jacob’s Creek, the Australian wine brand which has appointed the ex-speedster as their Global Ambassador and is also the official wine partner for the ongoing T20 Men’s World Cup, Lee described it as a “perfect combination”.

“Certainly, with their association, being the official wine partner for the ICC T20 Men’s World Cup, to be involved with such an iconic Australian brand, I’ve always loved Jacob’s Creek wine, that’s no secret and people know that.

“The last couple of years I’ve been a friend of the brand, but now officially to be named the Ambassador of Jacob’s Creek, that’s where your life changes I guess. When you’re finished playing cricket and you’re not touring anymore, you can actually have other interests and I’ve always had other interests, but now this is the time to explore and develop those different tastes in whatever they might be. So, I love the outdoors, I love my music and I’m very passionate about wine.

“So to me this is the perfect combination. We talk about combinations in cricket. To me personally, it’s a wonderful association and a wonderful combination,” Lee concluded.