Australian team always said to each other, 'don't speak to him because...': Lee's fascinating revelation about Tendulkar

India's former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is widely considered as one of the greatest to play the game. A record-holder for most runs in Tests and ODIs, Tendulkar dominated bowling attacks across the world and remains the only player in the history of the game to score 100 international centuries. Throughout his 24-year-long career, Tendulkar enjoyed intense rivalries with some of the leading fast bowlers – one of them was Australia's Brett Lee, who, on Friday, recalled facing the ‘Master Blaster’.

The Australia speedster, known for his brutal pace, paid tribute to Tendulkar on his official YouTube channel as he talked about the first time he bowled to him in 1999 during a tour game, and revealed that he was overwhelmed with the support Indian fans showed for Tendulkar when the former first visited to India on a cricket tour.

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During the video, the former Australian pacer also revealed that the team always made sure to never talk to Tendulkar when the India batter was at the crease, as it would further trigger him to play even better.

"You see in his eyes, he wants it. When you are bowling to Sachin Tendulkar, you see that look in the eyes and it felt like the eye of the tiger. Someone who wants to get into the battle.

“We as the Australian cricket team always said to each other, 'don't speak to Sachin Tendulkar on the field'. Because if you sledge him on the field, you know he will be out there batting forever. So we just tried to keep our mouth shut and get on with the game,” Lee recalled on his official YouTube channel.

While Tendulkar certainly will remain among the greats of the game, Lee was also regarded as one of the best in the business during his playing days. Lee ended a stellar international career with 310 Test wickets and 380 ODI dismissals to his name. He lifted the World Cup twice with Australia in 2003 and 2007.