Injured Lee set for early comeback

Melbourne: Ruled out for over a month due to a broken toe, Australian pacer Brett Lee could make a stunning early comeback in the ongoing ODI tri-series against India and Sri Lanka this week itself.

Lee was expected to be out for six weeks after breaking the little toe on his right foot after stopping a powerful shot by Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni during Australia`s Twenty20 loss to India in Melbourne on February 3. But the 35-year-old said he is ready to push the pain threshold and stage an early comeback. "The way I explain it is by saying there is a crack in the toe. It`s fractured, but I`m told if you`re going to have that happen to you the little toe is the best one to break," Lee told a leading daily. "I`m striving to be back for the game in Sydney (against Sri Lanka on Friday), I`m doing everything I possibly can to play. I`ve (played with pain) on numerous occasions and I know I can play with a broken toe.” "People asked how I played with my toe split in half at the MCG, but you do these things when you play for your country. In terms of (my) pain threshold I`ve played a lot of games in pain ... the reason I took time off was to ensure there wasn`t any long-term damage to the toe," he explained. Lee said the early return would not hamper his speed and he would manage to send down deliveries at over 150kph. "There was a ball in I delivered in the Twenty20 (in Melbourne) which may`ve surprised a lot of people because I think some of them didn`t believe I could break 150km/h at my age. "To hit 151 or 152 or whatever it felt great," Lee said. PTI