Former Australian pace spearhead Brett Lee on Tuesday (May 26) said that legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar is ahead of West Indies icon Brian Lara in the race for the greatest batsman he has bowled to, but former South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis was the “greatest complete cricketer” he has played against.

“You think of Sachin Tendulkar, it just looked like he had more time,” Lee said during an Instagram live session with former Zimbabwe cricketer Pommie Mbangwa.

“The best way to explain the meaning of time in cricket is that it felt like Sachin was batting on the return crease, batting next to the stumps, it just felt like he had more time to play against me, in my opinion he was the best batsman in the world. Then you go on to Brian Lara, he was so flamboyant, it did not matter how quick you bowled against him, he could smash you in six different areas on the ground. Lara and Sachin are neck to neck when you talk about greatest batsmen. In my opinion, Sachin is the greatest batsman, but the greatest complete cricketer in my opinion has to be Jacques Kallis,” added Lee.

Notably, Kallis is the only player in world to have scored over 10,000 runs and claimed more than 250 wickets in both ODI and Test cricket. He was also a useful slip fielder with 200 Test catches.

Meanwhile, Lee picked Australian middle-order batsman Steve Smith over India captain Virat Kohli as the world’s best batsman at the moment. “At the moment, I would pick Smith over Kohli because of what he has been through and what he has to overcome,” Lee said.

“Steve Smith has been through a lot in the last couple of years, he has seen a rise with the way he played in the last 12 months, he is so fidgety, sometimes you are like just relax mate. I might go with Kohli tomorrow as it depends on the mood. They are two great players and hard to split,” he added.