Melbourne: Australian pace bowler Brett Lee marked his test debut with five wickets against India today but said his abiding memory of the day's play was the brilliant batting of Sachin Tendulkar.
Tendulkar was the only batsman able to combat Lee's frightening pace, comfortably handling everything the Australian threw at him to earn a standing ovation from the crowd.
"You might pitch a ball on the off stump and think you have bowled a good ball and he walks across and hits it for two behind midwicket," Lee said. "His bat looks so heavy but he just waves it around like it's a toothpick."
Said Tendulkar: "It's always a great feeling to score runs against the top side in the world. It certainly gives you greater satisfaction. But the team's performance is important and I scored this hundred for the team."
Lee earlier scored 27, sharing a ninth wicket stand of 59 with Damien Fleming, and took five for 44 in a fairy tale start to his test career after spending most of the first two days of the test in the dressing room watching the rain.
"I'm still waiting to wake up. I think I might be dreaming all this," said Lee, whose older brother Shane was a member of the Australian limited overs team who won the World Cup this year.
"It's an experience I will never, ever forget. It's one of those things I have dreamed about but I didn't expect to take five wickets."
"It's a very proud feeling. I'm very honoured and very happy."