'It was almost like he (Sachin Tendulkar) was playing cat and mouse with (Shane) Warne and not many batsmen can play cat and mouse with Shane Warne because he’s so talented,' Brett Lee said
Bengaluru: Former fast bowler Brett Lee has revealed how India’s Sachin Tendulkar dominated Shane Warne and the Australian leg-spinner “hated” it.
Tendulkar and Warne were involved in many on-field battles with the Indian batting legend coming out on top. Both greats of the time during their playing days, Indian fans enjoyed every bit of Tendulkar’s domination over Warne, who took 708 Test wickets from 145 matches.
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Former Australian paceman and Warne’s teammate Lee recalled the time when Tendulkar was ahead of other batsman when it came to tackling Warne’s spin. Tendulkar retired in 2013 after playing in a world record 200 Tests and 463 ODIs. He is the leading run scorer in both Tests and ODIs. He has scored a world record 100 centuries in international cricket.
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“(Sachin Tendulkar) used to advance down the wicket a few times and invited Warne to bowl a fraction too short. Sometimes, he would wait patiently on the back foot and play those beautiful shots,” Lee said on Star Sports’ “Cricket Connected”.
“It was almost like he was playing cat and mouse with Warne and not many batsmen can play cat and mouse with Shane Warne because he’s so talented. But, Sachin Tendulkar was toying with Warne and that does not happen often,” the Australian added.
Lee said it was “pure class” how Tendulkar played different balls from Warne.“The way Sachin used to read bowlers out of their hand, the different technique he used to play different balls, was pure class. There were times when Warne would try and get the trajectory a bit different through the air and sometimes, he would try and get a few balls to drop.
“Every time he would try the subtle variations, there was only Sachin who would pick them up. Warne would bamboozle other batsmen around the world, but Sachin would watch the hand much better than most of the other batsmen. Warne hated it, he would come back and say that he tried everything to get Sachin out, but he couldn’t,” Lee said.
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