By IANS
Melbourne : After registering a convincing victory over Sri Lanka Friday night, Australian fast bowling spearhead Brett Lee has maintained that the world champions would keep the winning momentum going against India here Sunday.
“It is very important for us to keep the momentum going. Last night we had a convincing win. The way we batted and bowled was near to perfect and going into tomorrow’s match we are feeling very confident. But we still have lot of wok to do in Melbourne,” said Lee after a practice session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) Saturday.
Of the three matches played so far in the Commonwealth Bank series, Saturday’s match in Sydney fetched results as riding on spirited performance by the bowlers Australians defeated Sri Lanka by 128 runs.
Lee and co. were clinical in their approach against the Sri Lankans and Nathan Bracken was the top bowler with his five-wicket haul. The Australian spearhead was happy about his bowlers’ performance and had words of praise for Bracken.
But he was a bit concerned, about his team’s batting order, which has been troubled by a young Indian pace attack. “The credit should be given to the Indian bowlers, they have bowled pretty well. It is just a matter of tomorrow’s evening going out and batsmen making sure that they get runs. The guys are really working hard on their bowling and I think there will be some improvement tomorrow night against India,” Lee pointed out.
Despite of a clinical performance against World Cup finalists Sri Lanka in Sydney, Lee said that there was still room for improvement for the World Champions. “We always set the bar very high as we don’t play second rung cricket. We did well last night but still there is lot of improvement to be done and that is very healthy.”
He also said that the young Indian batting line-up will have their work cut out in the absence of senior pros like Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, who were dropped from the ODI side.
“It is always tough for the younger guys coming through. The likes Sourav and Rahul have played lot of cricket and had played here right through out the summer. And with the rain and the washout disrupting the game, the younger guys need more time to find their feet. They have their work cut out and their bench strength is also good as they have quality batsmen,” said the Australian bowler.
On his on-field rivalry with Sachin Tendulkar, Lee said: ” He is the best player going around in world cricket and I say that because I don’t have to bowl against Ricky Ponting or Adam Gilchrist. It is just a matter of going out there and keeping Sachin tied down. He has had a great summer but hopefully he won’t have here against us.”
Asked whether the ongoing tussle about the Australian cricketers’ participation in the forthcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) is affecting the focus of the players, Lee said: “The IPL poses a great opportunity for the Australian players and also for other players across the globe. It will be fantastic to play with different people in different clubs and we will be happy with the right kind of outcome. But it is important for me and other Australian cricketers to focus right now on what we are doing.”
On Geoffrey Boycott’s claim that Shaun Tait has lack of character to be a successful international cricketer: “I don’t know much about that because I am hearing it for the fist time. I can only comment on what I know about Tait; he is a fantastic character and a brilliant bowler. His character is second to none. He has gone though tough times recently and as team mates it is our responsibility to give him the space he needs.”