Australia fast bowler Brett Lee plans to record and release his first studio album in India during breaks in his playing schedule over the next 12 months and is also looking forward to charity work and movie offers in the country in future.
Lee has returned to India with the Australian one-day side for a seven-match series and, to his amazement, the game's popularity has only grown in the country.
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"This has probably been the series with the most interest since I've been coming here," Lee said adding "I've been on a few tours now with the Australian side, and it's always been massive, but the last couple of weeks have been huge.
"I think the Twenty20 [World Cup victory] has had a lot to do with it, which is great for world cricket and great for India. This is where cricket is, this is the home of cricket. There would have been a couple of thousand people waiting for us at the hotel," he told Australian newspaper The Age.
Following the success of his debut single with Asha Bhosle last year, Lee will record and release his first studio album in India during breaks in his cricketing schedule. Also, having fielded and rejected several approaches from movie producers due to time constraints, Lee hopes to grace India's silver screens after his cricketing career.
He is also in the process of forming a charitable fund in India.
"Steve Waugh is loved over here because he has done so much charity work, and that's how I would like to be remembered as well: someone who enjoyed his cricket, but also put a fair bit back in," Lee said.
"Hopefully, I've only scratched the surface. There's heaps of other things as well I want to do over here, like may be a movie."
The fast bowler was effusive in his praise for the cricket-crazy public of India and said they gave him a feeling which he never encountered while playing anywhere else.
"Even though there are so many people, never once have we felt threatened. We're never worried about going anywhere.
"It's different when we tour England, South Africa or New Zealand because they love the home side, and that's not a bad thing. But here they just cheer you, and you get goose bumps when you walk onto the field. It's just 'Wow'. You don't see that in Australia," Lee added.
