IN AWE: Brett Lee thinks Amitabh Bachchan is `just great.' — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Bangalore: He speaks a smattering of Hindi with an Aussie twang. "thoda, thoda," and "paani" are some of the words he uttered while meeting the press prior to meeting the eleven lucky winners of the "Meet with Brett" Timex contest.

Rooting for Australia

Brett Lee, the Australian pace bowler, is despondent at missing the ongoing World Cup.

"Every time I watch the matches on TV, I want to be in the thick of action out there," he admitted.

"I'm rooting for Australia to win the Cup but at this point New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka all have a chance of winning," said Brett, "but Australia jeetega (will win)," he added.

`Second love'

During his break from active cricket because of an ankle injury, Brett Lee was keeping himself busy with his second love — music. He had a "great time" cutting a disc with "the legend" Asha Bhosle and is so enamoured with Bollywood that he would love to do a Hindi film after his retirement from the game (which is why he's taking lessons in Hindi).

Brett Lee plays with a rock band in Australia called Six and Out.

He is in awe of the Big B and thinks that Amitabh Bachchan is "just great."

Brett Lee loves Bangalore. He's visited the city a number of times and enjoys "the beautiful weather and the laidback attitude in the city."

Indian performance

Inevitably questions centred around India's dismal performance and Coach Greg Chappel's role in the debacle and Sachin Tendulkar's future.

His replies were that India was in the process of rebuilding the cricket team, similar to Australia's picking up process after the Ashes series loss in England.

"We too copped a lot of flak from the media after losing in England, but we did well to bounce back. Greg Chappel had a lot to offer Indian cricket and Sachin still is a great batsman," Lee stressed.

Leading team

Asked if he nursed any ambitions in leading the Australian cricket team, Brett Lee replied that he was very comfortable with Ponting's captaincy.

He wanted to be a mentor to the younger fast bowlers Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson, just as Glen McGrath and Jason Gillespie were to him when he broke into the Australian squad.

Brett Lee is nicknamed "Bing" in the Aussie dressing room.

"I am called Bing after a chain of stores in Australia called Bingley. It's better than Ugly I suppose," the Aussie paceman said with a touch of wry humour.

"Other choices could be Jet Lee and Deadly," Brett Lee laughed.

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