Lee set to return for India tour

Brett Lee has declared himself ready to tour India after taking time away from the game to deal with the break-up of his marriage, although he did contemplate skipping the trip. Lee joined his team-mates in Darwin on Thursday but he was flying back to Sydney later that day and will not play in Saturday's ODI against Bangladesh.

The players depart for India on September 21 and Lee said there was no doubt he would be available. "Absolutely, I'm looking forward to it," Lee said. "I can't wait." However, it was only earlier this week that Lee made up his mind that he was mentally prepared for the four-Test tour.

"It's only been the last couple of days [that I decided]," Lee said. "It's been one of those things where it was just going to be a time thing, so if it didn't work out and I didn't think I was fit enough or I wasn't ready to go, more so mentally ... but I'm feeling great on both fronts and I'm actually looking forward to it."

Lee was originally named in the squad to take on Bangladesh in three one-day internationals but he was later granted leave by Cricket Australia when he informed them of his personal circumstances. Lee considered whether it would be best to miss the India trip but his break during the Darwin games and the postponement of the Champions Trophy helped him decide.

"There's been a lot of things I had to contemplate," Lee said. "The fact that this tour happened here, then the Pakistan tour was cancelled, which [I] didn't have to make up my mind whether I was going to go or not. That took that equation out of my head, which was better for me.

"I needed for personal reasons to have a bit of time away from cricket and I felt at these three games up here was probably the time that I needed to actually get away from cricket. It's worked out well."

Also contributing to Lee's decision was his burning desire to finally play his first Test in India, where he is immensely popular. When Australia last visited India for Tests, in 2004-05, Lee was on the fringes of an attack led by Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz.

"I was twelfth man for the four Test matches over there," Lee said. "So I'll be looking forward to getting over there and taking the brand new red ball again. That's something that's been burning inside of me for a long period of time now.

"I'll be looking forward to getting over there. The crowds are brilliant, the people are so friendly and lovely. It's a tough place to play cricket but also one that's very enjoyable."

Lee's whirlwind 24-hour stop-off in Darwin was designed in part so that he could start to feel like part of the team again. That began with some stretches and a game of kick-to-kick in a Darwin park as Lee joked around with his team-mates following Wednesday's thrashing of Bangladesh. He also wanted to catch up with the coaching staff to ensure all was on track for his participation in the India tour.

"I thought it would be a wise move to get out of Sydney and just come up here and spend some time in Darwin, see how the lads are going and get back into the feel of things again," Lee said. "I thought it would be a great opportunity to come up here and cross a few things off and make sure that I'm on target."