Cricket News
‘How can I be Ishan Kishan of the world’- Brett Lee reveals how he wanted to play a similar knock like Ishan Kishan in his childhood
Indian player Ishan Kishan has not had much time in the international team. Apart from this, this player has opportunities to play matches when senior players have not been a part of the team, but there is no doubt that Ishan Kishan has impressed a lot with his batting.
Recently, Ishan Kishan scored a record double-century in the ODI match against Bangladesh. At present, this player is eyeing a place in the ODI World Cup 2023. At the same time, former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee has given a big statement on Ishan Kishan.
Just like Gully cricket in India which is played on the streets, cricketers in Australia are first subjected to playing backyard cricket, and Lee is one of them. The former Australia pacer revealed how he picked up his basics while playing at home growing up as he rekindles some of his old memories of backyard cricket.
“For me personally, backyard cricket was almost like university or school… of thought to train my brain to one day become a Test cricketer. The aggression, the frustration, the fights, the anger, the passion that you show in backyard cricket. Now we are very lucky here in Australia, I am based on the south coast of Sydney where I grew up and I know that so many other kids around the world haven’t got that luxury of playing on beautiful grass fields or backyards or big spaces,” Lee said on his official YouTube channel.
“It can be Gully cricket over in India or street cricket around the world. But right here in Australia, we generally have a decent-sized backyard and we had a nice little backyard and even a driveway, we’d run up across the road and bowl. So picture this backyard cricket at Lee’s house normally around a Christmas morning or a Christmas afternoon or Boxing day morning, We’d have the whole pitch set out. So backyard cricket consisted of my older brother Shane and my younger brother Grant and yours truly.”
‘I was bowling for hours’- Brett Lee
Lee recalled how he was once made to bowl endlessly by elder brother Shane and when it was his turn to bat, Brett was dismissed on the first ball and ended up crying. Lee recalled that in reply to Shane’s triple-century, he was expecting to score at least a double Kishan.
“We had some ferocious games of backyard cricket I can promise you. One time my older brother Shane, he went out to about a stinking hot day in Australia about 38 degrees, he goes out there and scores a big 200. 200 in the backyard I couldn’t get him out, I think a few times, I nicked him off and he got caught in the pot plant. The pot plant in the fall was definitely, that was a short leg. Over the back fence was six and out, we had all these rules. But Shane you know, he wasn’t quite the cheat in the backyard but there were couple of occasions where I reckon I got him but he didn’t go for it,” Lee added.
“He finally gets out 200 runs, might have been 300s… a lot of runs, I was bowling for hours. Then my turn to bat and I’m thinking like how can I consolidate that innings. How can I be Ishan Kishan of the world and go on and get a big double hundred and try to win the game? I went out there, nicked first ball and Shane ran inside and I started crying.”