Locked in an intense battle with teammate Michael Kasprowicz for a berth in the final eleven, Australian speedster Brett Lee hopes his recent sojourn of Chennai will clinch it for him when Australia reaches India for the keenly-awaited four-Test series next month.
Admitting he was desperate to stage a comeback after a six-month lay off due to injury, Lee told ''The Sun-Herald'' that the tour was part of his comeback process which saw him paying for the Chennai trip.
During his five-day stint in Chennai, he spent a day at the MRF Pace Foundation working with former Indian spearhead Javagal Srinath and played two games for the Australian Cricket Academy against local sides.
''I wanted to learn more about playing there and I really got a lot out of that tour,'' Lee told the daily from England.
''It was a chance to get used to the heat and to work on reverse swing, which I tended to get in the latter overs, which was pretty exciting.
''That doesn't happen a lot in Australia. But on the dry pitches in India, where the ball gets scuffed up, it's important to know how to control it'', he said.
Lee also revealed that fitness trainer Jock Campbell had been putting the whole Australian team through a tough regime of heat training, keeping the Indian tour in mind.
''It was quite funny the other day. We were in a gym in London, it was about 25 degrees here and we were training hard wearing trackies, three shirts and a beanie, really sweating it out. We got a few strange looks but it was all about the India tour for us.'' Meanwhile, though Lee and Kasprowicz are vying for the third pacer's slot-- behind Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie-- Lee said they get along well.
''We're always working on new things. Two heads are better than one and we are all about winning for Australia, no matter who is playing. At the moment we're focused on winning here in England but I'm sure as the India tour approaches, we'll talk more about bowling there'', Lee added.