Lee hurt yet hungry for more

New Delhi: The frenetic pace of international cricket over the last 10 years has taken a heavy toll on Brett Lee's body but the Aussie strike bowler is not giving up yet. In fact, he is not even ready to choose one format over other, as few cricketers have done, and instead wants to play all the three.

Once spearheading the Aussie Test attack, Lee wants to regain his place in the Test squad but he is not planning to give up ODIs or Twenty20 for it.

"To constantly bowl 150 kmph for 10-15 years will obviously result in injuries but I am not finished yet. I am feeling fresh and still have a lot more years of cricket left. I still love the game and have passion for it," Lee said.

"Any opportunity to play for your country is something special and as a bowler I am certainly not complaining. I love to play all formats of the game. I love Twenty20, it is exciting but I am hungry as ever to get back in the Test team,” he said.

Having sustained an elbow injury during the first ODI match at Vadodara, the 33-year-old speedster, however, ruled out the suggestion that playing in the Champions League had anything to do with the injury.

"I don't think my injury has anything to do with Champions League. I wanted to play as much as possible, especially after bowling in the nets throughout the Ashes.

"The opportunity came up when we qualified for the Champions League last year. I was born in New South Wales so I am always ready to represent it whenever I get an opportunity. However, playing for Australia definitely comes first for me. It is unfortunate that I picked up a slight elbow niggle during the first ODI."

However, Lee refused to speculate whether he’d be able to play the match on Saturday. "I will know whether I’d be able to play or not only after tomorrow's (Friday) training. I am not going to make any call today, but hope I will be there. I have not had much rest for the last 4 to 6 months, so it is bound to happen," he said.

"I am eager to return, (James) Hopes is also very keen, (Moises) Henriques has joined the team and even the guys are waiting in the wings. We were outclassed yesterday (Wednesday) but it doesn't mean we are finished. Still five matches are left in the series," he said.

Talking about Sachin Tendulkar’s cheap dismissals in the first two ODIs, Lee said, “He is a class act. So far we were lucky to pick him up cheaply but it is unfair to write him off. So far it is going well and we will stick to our plans in the next matches."

Asked about Mitchell Johnson’s face off with Virender Sehwag and Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the second ODI, Lee said, "If you ask me nothing went wrong in the Nagpur match. We love to play our cricket hard and even India also play hard.”