‘Thought, I might get an autograph’: Brett Lee recalls his first meeting with legendary Sachin Tendulkar

Former Australia pacer Brett Lee recently recalled his first on-field encounter with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. The duo shared one of the greatest rivalries in world cricket during their playing days. While Sachin is regarded as one of the greatest batters of all time, Lee is one of the fastest bowlers to have played the game.

Sachin, who is the leading run-getter of all time in international cricket, owns a plethora of other major records. The Master Blaster enjoyed great duels with some of the best bowlers of his time during his playing days, including Lee. The duo came up against each other on several occasions and managed to get the better of each other a few times.

On Sunday (April 24), Lee had taken to social media to send birthday wishes to Sachin, who turned 49. The former Australian pacer also paid tribute to the Master Blaster on his YouTube channel Brett Lee TV. The former speedster recalled his first meeting with Sachin and revealed he had thought of asking for an autograph from the batting legend.

“I met Sachin for the first time way back in 1999 in Canberra. I was playing in the Prime Minister’s XI against the touring Indian team, which of course had Sachin in it. It was a practice match when he came out to bat and I’m bowling to the great Sachin Tendulkar. I actually thought, ‘I might get an autograph. Get the ball and say, ‘Hey mate, can you please sign this’. I thought that would look cool as my first impression,” Lee said in the video.

As a young kid growing up, I watched the wonderful Tendulkar and here I was, bowling to him. I managed to nick him off and we shook hands at the end of the game. I was in absolute awe of this wonderful man,” Lee added.

Also Read: Five records of Sachin Tendulkar that are nearly impossible to break

Sachin and Lee enjoyed some great on-field battles between them when India locked horns with Australia at the international stage. Lee recalled how the Master Blaster would receive applause from home fans even in Australia which was not the case with other batters who came out to bat when touring Down Under.

“Most players who are not from Australia receive a fair bit of flak. They normally get booed. The crowd appreciate the players but doesn’t want to show it… that’s the Australian culture. But every time Sachin walked out to bat, there was massive applause, not only from the Australians but also from the touring Indians who were a part of fans that flew in from around the world to watch Sachin,” said Lee.

Also Read: The man who united billions: Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir lead wishes as Sachin Tendulkar turns 49

Sachin played a staggering 200 Tests and 463 ODIs in his glorious international career amassing 15,921 and 18,426 runs in the two formats respectively. The Master Blaster is the highest run-getter of all time in both Tests and ODIs and is record is unlikely to be broken anytime soon.