IF YOU are watching Brett Lee bowling in India over the next month and you think you hear him say "jaldi, jaldi" to a departing batsman don't adjust your sets.
He is speaking Hindi. The words are Hindi for "hurry, hurry", perhaps a line worthy of exposure to a foe who refuses to budge.
Wherever he goes around the cricketing world, Lee tries to learn the local lingo as a way of embracing the culture. Impressed locals in India love it when he greets or thanks them in Hindi.
The by-product of learning a few phrases is that he can occasionally understand what rival teams are saying about him and can play his part in on-field banter.
"I muck around a bit with it on the field," Lee said.
Lee claims he was prodded into action one day when he heard his Indian opponents say, "Let's get this khakush out of here". A friend later told him khakush was Hindi for rabbit.
"So later I said a few words back to them in Hindi which was good fun. It's all in good humour. I actually get along really well with the Indians. (V. V. S.) Laxman is a great mate of mine and I caught up with him numerous times to have a feed. Him and (Rahul) Dravid and (Sourav) Ganguly I find really nice people.
"I know a little bit of Hindi. I don't know heaps but I have made an effort. In South Africa I learnt a little bit of Afrikaans."
Lee has never played a Test in India and is unlikely to make Australia's top XI in Bangalore next week, but his raw pace and debonair features make him a cult figure here. On one giant billboard in Mumbai he is called "India's Brett Lee".
On Wednesday night he stopped momentarily in the foyer of the team hotel and within seconds was engulfed by 30 fans. One gave him a giant red heart, another a bunch of roses.
About 20 per cent of Lee's earnings come from India and he has been here six times in the past year. He is the brand ambassador for Timex in India with the firm bypassing a host of local heroes to give him a contract.