By IANS
Sydney : Australian bowling spearhead Brett Lee warned the Indians that the pace attack which dismantled their strong batting line-up in Melbourne will only become more lethal in the remaining Tests.
Lee said the Australian attack was relishing the prospect of bowling on the lively Sydney pitch and then Perth after toiling on the slow Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) deck in the Boxing Day Test.
Though Australia performed with distinction on the drop-in wicket, Lee said that the pace trio, which includes Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson, would find the Sydney pitch more suited to pace, signalling more pain for the humbled Indian batsmen.
“Sydney is going to have a bit more (life) in it, especially for the quicks,” Lee said.
“And then we’ve got Perth… who knows what might happen over there. We were bowling on a pretty benign wicket in Melbourne, very low and slow and that doesn’t really suit the quicks. But I thought we did a great job in Melbourne on that wicket. The ball ended up looking like a dog had a good go at it,” he added.
“Up here (in Sydney) should suit fast bowling a lot more.”
After executing a stifling bowling plan to near perfection, Lee said there was plenty of confidence the Australian quicks and spinners could replicate the performance in the second Test, which starts Wednesday.
“We have to stay really focussed and keep going through and executing the plans we have been focusing on,” Lee said.
Despite their dominance in Melbourne, focus will be needed for Australia’s bowlers at Sydney.
In their previous clash in Sydney, India piled on a record first innings score of 705 for seven as Sachin Tendulkar (241 not out) V.V.S Laxman (178) belted the Aussie bowlers.
That match, which was Steve Waugh’s final Test, ended in a draw and the four-match Test series finished level at 1-1.
Lee said patience had been the key to Australia’s 2-0 success against Sri Lanka recently and it had carried the same quality into the series against India.
“The way we applied it, the way we bowled in partnerships, changing the tempo but concentrating on being patient, it worked well,” Lee said.
“So after that series we looked how we could apply it to the Indian batsmen.”We had thorough plans, and we executed those plans as a bowling unit very, very well.”
The second innings wicket of Tendulkar was, to many, a defining moment in Lee’s new career path.
“You work on a plan. Try to get in some short stuff and then throw one out wide, and he bit at it. Yeah, that was very pleasing,” Lee said.