Sachin Tendulkar played cat and mouse with Shane Warne: Brett Lee

Brett Lee, the former Australian fast bowler, revealed how Sachin Tendulkar, at times, used to make a mockery of spin wizard Shane Warne. Lee, one of the fastest bowlers of his era along with the likes of Shoaib Akhtar and Shaun Tait, was amazed by how the Master Blaster dictated terms to the legendary tweaker, who ended his international career with 1,001 wickets from 339 matches.

Lee said how Sachin used his feet to good effect to neutralize the venom of Warne. The leg-spinner could only manage to dismiss Tendulkar four times at the highest level. Lee mentioned how Sachin toyed with Warne, a rare sight as per the retired speedster.

“He (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 was quoted as saying on Star Sports’ show Cricket Connected.

The way Sachin used to read bowlers was pure class: Brett Lee

“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 on days, Sachin Tendulkar was toying with Warne and that does not happen often,” he quipped.

Lee also mentioned how Sachin used to read the bowlers with sheer precision. He said that Sachin picked most of Warne’s subtle variations.

“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,” he added.

Lee was one, who could at times get under Sachin’s skin. In 12 Test matches, he dismissed Tendulkar five times though the latter had an average of 50.40. In ODIs though, Sachin could hardly dominate Lee. In 30 matches, he got out to the fast bowler as many as nine times. Moreover, he managed a mere average of 17 while facing the pacer.