For anyone growing up watching modern cricket, Brett Lee will go down as one of the best fast bowlers to watch. The sheer aggression in his run-up and delivery stride, was often matched by the speed of the ball and the intensity that followed it all.

Off the field, he has been Lee’s intensity when he played is often matched by his love for watching pacers in action. The former Australia pacer, who has played 38 matches in the IPL, who is in India as part of the Jio Cinema broadcast team, on Monday spoke through a virtual interaction about a few different pacers who have impressed him at the 2023 season so far.

Here are excerpts from the media interaction:

On Arjun Tendulkar’s introduction to IPL

Oh look, I think he can do all facets (different phases of bowling). The thing with Arjun Tendulkar, I have been super impressed. When he was given that responsibility of death bowling the other evening when he closed out the game and won the game for Mumbai Indians, whichever way that went, I knew that was going to be a great experience for him. What I mean by that is he has been thrown in the deep end which is great for him. So he is learning as he goes and like the other evening when he was hit for a few runs at the end of the second game, that is fine. That is going to happen in T20 cricket. That is what I keep reiterating with bowlers when you play T20 cricket that there will be games where bowlers go the journey and it has happened to me on so many occasions, so you have to take the ego and emotion out of it. I think he has been a wonderful find for MI, his new ball bowling is outstanding you know, he is swinging the ball.

On whether Tendulkar’s lack of pace is a concern

You can have people criticise about anything. But if you look at Sandeep Sharma’s bowling, he’s bowling at 123kph so Arjun’s bowling way faster than that. He’s a young guy, only 23 years of age, he has got his whole career ahead of him. My advice to him is ‘don’t listen to the critics’, like his dad had to go through when he misses out and got low scores, you got to back yourself. He has got some wonderful skills and when he gets comfortable in the team environment, he gets more comfortable playing in front of the big lights, big crowds, his pace will increase.

On Arshdeep Singh closing out the match against MI

Arshdeep Singh, I have really enjoyed watching him bowl. He is sitting in second position on the purple cap. He is a quality bowler, he takes wickets up front, gets wickets through the middle period, but most importantly he is a great death bowler. He is a great find for Punjab, I think this year Punjab Kings might get the opportunity to get up that leaderboard, I really really wish that they will get up and he is the guy that I believe that will propel them up to top four and if they get to top four they are going to be the team that will definitely do it.

On MS Dhoni and the reception he has been getting in the IPL

Regardless of where CSK play and where MS Dhoni bats, there are Dhoni fans not only in India but all over the world. And I think it’s great for cricket. We saw the game in Kolkata and half the crowd was in yellow shirts. I think that is healthy because it shows the love and support they have for someone like MSD. I am super impressed by the way he is playing. You never want these heroes or icons to retire. Whether it is his last year or not you will have to wait and see but I think now with this substitution rule that he might play for a year or two, let’s wait and see. It is great for the game. I don’t think it changes the home-away advantage I think it changes the rivalry even stronger.

On who has impressed him among the newer bowlers

I’ve been enjoying watching Tushar Deshpande bowl. I think that he’s got a beautiful action, he swings the ball away. Off the top of my head, I’m thinking of the delivery he bowled to Rohit Sharma when they played against the Mumbai Indians. The seam position was perfect, he presented the seam bowled upright, angled in towards middle stump and swung away and took the top off off-stump from Rohit Sharma. That to me, was one of the balls of the tournament. So, he continues to improve, he continues to impress, and you got guys like that that are complimenting the game of the IPL. I’m loving watching these guys play at the Jio Cinema, Insider’s Feed. It actually makes you feel like you want to be out there and being a team-mate of theirs. It’s exciting to see these young guys coming through.

How he sees Dhoni’s influence on the youngsters in his team

Come May 28th and we’ll see whether it really is the last time for MSD. I don’t think it will be, I hope it’s not, I hope he plays for another year. But the great thing about MSD and the CSK family is that as you mentioned, they bring these young guys coming through. Deshpande, like I mentioned before, is a guy who is absolutely been like a sponge under the guidance of MSD. He’s learning so much and that’s what MS Dhoni does. It’s almost like he’s the father figure and they’re like his kids coming on board. He’s looking after them all, making sure they get exactly what they need, given them the confidence to express themselves as athletes so when you sum up a player, it’s not only the stats. It’s the sixes that he hits, the way that he keeps, he has kept beautifully this year, he has captained beautifully. One thing that doesn’t get put in the stats column is what he is doing for the team off the field, I think that’s pretty much important. He is a great man-manager, great leader and a great role-model, so that’s him.

On Ishant Sharma and Mohit Sharma impressing on their comebacks to IPL action

Maybe I should change my name to Brett Sharma, it seems like every Sharma is making a comeback which is great, I think it is fantastic. I was really happy for Ishant Sharma, he hadn’t played since 2021, makes his comeback and picks up some wickets and bowls extremely well. I was proud for him, it just goes to show that when you are playing in the IPL, it doesn’t matter what age you are, experience counts a lot and being under pressure, being able to absorb and deflect that pressure means a lot as well. Ishant Sharma outstanding. Any other bowler gets an opportunity to come in and playing through that age bracket is also important, when you think about the guys that you mentioned they are just getting better and better with age. I am super impressed with both.

On Mohammed Siraj’s season so far and how impressive has been for RCB

[M Chinnaswamy] is almost like a graveyard for fast bowlers. It is tough, small boundaries, wickets that fly through so it’s easy for batters with the ball coming on, they can really play their shots, but you got to give credit to someone like Mohammed Siraj because he is at the top of the tree, top of the leaderboard in terms of purple cap. The reason, in my opinion, why he is at the top of the purple cap is because of his pace. He has got genuine pace, he shapes the ball away, he can also angle it back into the right-hander and angle away from the left-handed batter to induce the nick but when you bowl in the middle to late period (14th or 19th or 20th over) he has got a killer yorker. We saw that on a number of occasions in the first few games. He absolutely nails his yorkers.

On what is the yorker length and the use of them death bowling

One thing we have to be careful of when we define a yorker, that it is a genuine yorker. I think sometimes on the hawkeye when you see the actual decision and yorker zone, I don’t think it is absolutely 100% correct. I have always said that the yorker zone should start from the popping crease where the batter stands and then go about two inches above the bottom of the stumps. In other words, it is that rectangle between popping crease and the stumps which is the return crease then the perfect yorker length.

If you bowl a foot in front of the popping crease which is still close to the yorker, not in my opinion but obviously the zones, then that is where the batters can go deep in the crease like an Andre Russell, Shivam Dube, and launch it over as a half volley for six. So we just have to be very careful when we work out those lengths that they are bowling but on a general rule.

I am not saying that bowling back of length won’t be economical and won’t get you wickets because it is all relative to the ground you are playing on. I think that’s where the bowlers have got hurt is when they have missed the length and bowled a full toss or a half volley and they go for six. I still believe the wide line yorker option is a great option and the full yorker at middle and leg is a great option too

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On what has gone wrong for SRH’s bowling line-up this year

I don’t believe they have used their bowlers in the right position, so I would love for Umran Malik to bowl once in the powerplay. He did that and went for 20-odd runs, but that was a one-off occasion so it’s almost like saying to a batters that you open the batting but if had a duck, you’re never batting again. You’ve got to have faith in these people, you’ve got to have the commitment in these guys coming through. I would always give the fast-bowler the brand new ball and give him the correct field. Give him that confidence to run in and bowl that over because what happens is, unfortunately at the moment, they are using other bowlers and then they’ll use someone like an Umran Malik an eighth or ninth over, so generally the batter is in and they might be none for 80, none for 70 and then Umran Malik is bowling with an old ball with a batter set.

My advice would be to give him a couple of games with the new ball and if he misses out, he misses out but I could promise you that if he has got that confidence from his skipper then there is a good chance that he will succeed because he’s bowling with the new ball. You ask a batter whether he would likely face a bowler in the ninth over or the first over, I could promise you they would rather face him when the ball is old.

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