Mohali: The Australian media may have dubbed Sourav Ganguly a “serial offender”, but Brett Lee insists his teammates have no issues with the former India captain. He added that they have not lost their respect for Anil Kumble either despite the India captain’s mundane show in the Bangalore Test.

Sourav continues to rub the Australians the wrong way and the Aussie media dubbed him a “serial offender”, accusing him of indulging in delaying tactics in the Bangalore Test to ensure that India walked away with a morale-boosting draw in the series opener.

Lee, however, didn’t find anything grossly wrong with Sourav. “See, he has got a role to play in the side. I mean he plays his game and obviously has a job to do. We play the game our way. We play a Test match to win it. But of course there was lot of doubt about the light thing (in Bangalore)...” he said.

Lee also made it clear that Kumble remained a great bowler in the eyes of the Australian batsmen.

“Look, he has got 600 Test wickets. We respect him both as a captain and also as a class bowler. He is a great bowler, who has been around for long and we will treat him just the way we would treat a great bowler,” Lee said.

Despite leading the side to the draw, Kumble was flayed for his lacklustre bowling and unimaginative captaincy in the Bangalore Test.

The Indian skipper was so hurt by the comments about his lack of fitness and demand for his retirement that he hit back, rather uncharacteristically, at his critics and vowed to make a mark soon in the series.

The first Test also witnessed occasional sparks fly around and both Zaheer Khan and Brad Haddin were fortunate to escape a reprimand after their on-field brawl.Lee, believes not a single player from the either side overstepped the line in the first Test.

“I think the first Test was definitely played in the right spirit. There was lot of passion and controlled aggression. A few words were exchanged indeed but that was well within the right spirit. You cannot take away the passion, after all we are not playing tiddlywinks.” Lee argued.

Oozing charm and welcoming the media with the Sat Sri Akaal greeting, Lee, who donned the Kings XI Punjab colours in the Indian Premier League, said the second Test would be quite a home match for him.

“It’s going to be a home game for me. It’s a great place and hopefully the wicket will have enough carry, especially because this is traditionally a bouncy track. In Bangalore, it was pretty low and slow. The pitch here looks pretty hard and hopefully there will be enough carry for the young pacers,” Lee added.