Aussie bowler Brett Lee feels welcome in India, and says that Aussies make Indians try to feel the same way there. He's so close to India, he says, that you might hear a Hindi song in his album!

Australian pace bowler Brett Lee had some great moments during his recent visit to Delhi, and he couldn't stop gushing about his experience. "Till now, I have enjoyed walking the ramp wearing Indian clothes and singing Hindi songs, but this was the first time, and a rare experience for me, to actually read a news bulletin on Indian TV. I would say it was simply fantastic and, at the same time, challenging, as the script was in Hinglish," he said. In his typical Aussie ascent, he added, "Mujhe thoda thoda Hindi bolna aata hai. 'Namaste' and 'bahut achha hai', yeh thoda thoda bol leta hun main. I had to read the script on the teleprompter, and trust me; I didn't feel nervous at all. The news that I was reading was about Shah Rukh Khan."

When asked about the recent attacks against Indians in Australia, Brett said emphatically, "Obviously, to be here in India is a wonderful opportunity for me. I've been here lots of times and do consider India as my second home. I don't feel insecure to be here. I do love the people here and I feel at home also. The way I get treated in this country is quite a humbling experience for me. I'm definitely saddened with the way attacks on Indians in Australia. All I can say is that it feels so nice to come to India; similarly, we in Australia welcome the Indians with open arms. It's unfortunate that some Indian students were at the receiving end of racist attacks recently. Australia is a safe place and we are working closely with the government to keep things on an even keel."

Showering praise on the Australian cricket team, Brett says, "I'm very happy at the way the Australian team has been performing. We have lot of young players in the team now. It's great to see young players doing well. We have been very successful in the past couple of years. The Australian team has been doing a good job. I'm looking forward to seeing the team do well in the future too."

Brett feels that the Indian cricket deserves to be the best team in the world too, despite what the critics have to say. He stresses, "India deserves to be in the number one position. They have good players and have been performing well consistently."

Recovering from his elbow injury, Brett is ready to play for the IPL series in March. Talking about the newly appointed captain of the Kings' XI Punjab team, Kumar Sangakkara, he points out, "Putting Sangakkara in charge has reduced the pressure on Yuvraj Singh. I think Yuvraj will now get some time to rest and be more relaxed. Sangakarra is a good and experienced player and I'm sure he will be great as captain too."