Mohali: Australian pace spearhead Brett Lee rubbished suggestions that the Indian Premier League (IPL) will lure players away from national duty, saying both can co-exist without being detrimental to each other.
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"I don't think we should compare or match IPL with Australian cricket team as both have their own place," said Lee, who would be playing for Kings XI Punjab, one of the eight IPL teams competing in the Twenty20 tournament beginning next week.
On being quizzed about a recent survey conducted by Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) which says nearly half of the Aussie cricketers were willing to give up their central contracts to play in the cash-awash IPL, Lee said, "I don't think there is any reason why we can't do both (play for Australia and IPL simultaneously)."
"My heart is for Australian team and wearing Baggy Green cap is a great honour," he added.
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The express bowler said he would give his ‘best’ while playing for his IPL team ‘as I do when I play for Australia’.
Apart from Lee, Kings XI Punjab will have Yuvraj Singh as ‘icon player’ leading the side and will also feature Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardane, Romesh Powar, James Hopes, VRV Singh, Uday Kaul among other players.
Lee also felt players from different countries playing in one side ‘will also help strengthen bonds between the nations’.
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