Brett Lee at a press meet in the city on Monday. Picture by Pabitra Das

Calcutta: Australian speedster Brett Lee considers the upcoming India-Australia four-Test match series as the ‘unofficial world championship,’ since these two are the best sides now. He even rated the series as more important than the Ashes.

The Australians are coming here after the Champions’ Trophy in England in September.

“It is true that the Ashes carries some tradition and history. But the Indians have been playing really well for the last couple of years under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly. I feel they are perhaps closest to the Australians at the moment. So, in the present context this series can be rated as the unofficial world championship,” Lee said at a function in a city hotel on Monday.

The Australian fast bowler had a lot of praise for the Indian batsmen, saying they were the most difficult to bowl at in world cricket now.

“V.V.S. Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Sourav are all class batsmen,” he said. But according to Lee, Sachin is the toughest of the lot. “It has been very satisfying that I got his wicket on couple of occasions.”

The Aussie bowler also expressed his desire to play Test matches in the sub-continent as he is yet to.

“This series has got special significance for me and I am looking forward to it,” Lee said.

Despite lauding the Indians, he still believes that they can be beaten in their own backyard. “I know we will get wickets conducive to spin bowling but the Australians have set a benchmark,” he said.

Though he had an ankle injury during India’s tour Down Under, he wants to come to India with all guns blazing. “I will be fully fit in October,” he promised.

Touting Sourav and Ricky Ponting as the two best captains in the world, Lee said Ponting leads from the front just like Sourav.

“During our India tour, the 3-0 win over the Lankans would definitely boost our confidence,” he said.

The Australian pacer said he didn’t believe that Pakistan’s speedster Shoaib Akhtar had feigned an injury. “I don’t think there is any controversy on that. If a fast bowler can bowl, he will definitely bowl for his country,” he said.

Lee, however, complemented his teammate Stuart McGill for not touring Zimbabwe. “That is his personal statement, but the Zimbabwe tour is on.”

Though he didn’t take away any credit from Brian Lara after he reclaimed the world record and scored 400 runs, Lee said the West Indian skipper had Matthew Hayden’s mark (380) in his mind while batting.

Lee also rated Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan as good fast bowlers. “It is good for world cricket that India ultimately got a couple good quicks,” Lee said. “They have pace and fire, essential qualities for fast bowlers,” he said.

The Australian bowler said speed was more important for pace bowlers than control. “But they shouldn’t have pace without control. In Australia, we teach the boys that they must bowl with speed,” he signed off.