India feeling the absence of Dravid, Ganguly: Lee

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The Australian speedster singled out his side's bowling as a key factor in Sunday's match against India. More... Melbourne, February 9:: 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 ODI matches. The Australian speedster singled out his side's bowling as a key factor in Sunday'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 ODIs 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 ODI 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 ODIs 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."

[King]

Is Tendulkar singling out Lee for his comments? It feels like he's trying to prove a point. Tendulkar's having a go at Lee pretty much every ball. Hook shot is something he avoids usually but today he seems to want to hit short ones from Lee out of the park. I hope he sees the game through.

[sandtest]

I guess, in past matches, Lee was the main bowlers troubling us, so probably Boss decided to take him in this match. That said, Ganguly was an in-form batsman removed by BCCI not because of his batting, but the reason given was the sloppy fielding and poor running btw. wickets. So definately we have to cope up with the loss of experience in our batting line-up....however if young guns continue like they did in last match, this soon will be forgotten.

[Dravid]

umm, not reallyyyyyyy

[chanakya]

umm' date=' not reallyyyyyyy[/quote'] Are you kidding I was praying for a Dravid like performance from one of the young guys. They found the pace bowling too hot to handle

[Guest HariSampath]

Well....India doesnt really miss Dravid and Ganguly in ODIs...possibly the Aussies miss them ..we are quite happy with our Ishants, Rohits and Gambhirs...who are doing the job..