The battle between Sachin and the Australian bowlers like Glenn McGrath and Warne over the years is always remembered. But there was one bowler who has always dismissed Sachin Tendulkar. In a brilliant international career that spanned almost a quarter of a century, no bowler dismissed Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar more than Aussie quick Brett Lee. Like McGrath and Warne, Brett Lee also faced Sachin on numerous occasions and both made some very fascinating battles. Since his debut, he is the one who has dismissed Sachin 14 times in International cricket.
Sachin and Lee both played around 42 matches against each other. 12 in tests and 30 in ODIs in which Lee dismissed Tendulkar 14 times. But Sachin also scored a lot of runs against Australia and Lee, he scored around 2329 runs against the Aussies with 6 centuries and 11 fifties.
Lee and Tendulkar’s first battle dates back to the year 2000 when a 24-year-old Lee made his debut for Australia in a Test match at the MCG. Tendulkar and Lee would go on to face each other 42 more times over the next 12 years with both winning as many battles as losing against each other. Despite Tendulkar scoring more than 2000 runs against Australian sides featuring Lee, one single over stands out when recalling battles between the two. It was during the CB series in 2008 at MCG, that the Aussies were defending a meager total of 159. Then the little master Clattered three exquisite boundaries to lee in the space of four deliveries that were all clocked at faster than 150km/h.
In the controversial test series in 2007-08 between India and Australia lee dismissed Sachin 4 times in 4 match test series. That series was more remembered for scandal and controversies than the skills. Because of the enthralling on-field battle between Lee and Tendulkar, the focus shifted back to cricket. Statistically, Lee had the edge over his rival, removing him four times across the four Tests in conditions that favored bat more than the ball, but the Indian great did muster two brilliant centuries. But, as always, the numbers don't tell us the full story; Lee beat Tendulkar's bat at least three times early in his innings in Sydney before the Indian pushed on to three figures, while one of the Australian's two dismissals in Perth was a questionable LBW decision. He got a five-wicket haul in the Adelaide test where he bowled quickfire spells and troubled all the batsmen.
