MUMBAI: Brett Lee endorses a popular watch brand; his duet with Asha Bhonsle made waves on the Hindi pop charts recently. He is now busy penning the lyrics of an album to be released in India. The Australian speedster will soon appear in a Bollywood movie.
All this while he is undergoing rehabilitation for an ankle ligament injury sustained during the Chappell-Hadlee series that resulted in him missing the World Cup.
But one of India's most recognisable brand ambassadors says that cricketers must be allowed to endorse products as long as it does not eat into their training time and affect on-field performance. "It is a question of finding the right balance. Players must focus on cricketing priorities. But they can go ahead and endorse products as along as it is outside the sphere of their playing and training time. Remember, only if you play well do you get endorsements," Lee said.
On India's early exit at the World Cup, Lee said that it was clear that India was not playing good cricket at the moment. "It was a big disappointment but I am sure with the talent they have in their ranks, it is only a question of time before they bounced back," Lee said.
Drawing parallels to Australia's Ashes loss in 2005 and then their recent run of five losses in a row — two to England and three to New Zealand — Lee said that India's poor performance should be a wake-up call.
"After we lost the Ashes we re-grouped and came back stronger. Similarly we went into the World Cup with five losses in five games. But now we are playing real good cricket," he said adding: "I don't see any reason why India can't recover." Lee thinks it is important that India finds the right balance of youth and experience from here on.
"I think you need senior guys in the team. India has someone of the class of Sachin Tendulkar and he can still contribute and make a difference," Lee said.