Former Australia paceman Brett Lee bravely covered the Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter on Thursday (September 24) just hours after trying to save his great countryman Dean Jones' life at their hotel facility in Mumbai.
Jones, the ex Australia batsman and commentator, who was covering the IPL 2020 as part of the Star Sports' Dugout panel, died aged 59 from a cardiac arrest.
Read Also: Shocked Indian cricket fraternity pays respects to Dean Jones who passed away at 59
Upon learning that Jones has collapsed inside the Trident hotel, Lee immediately went up and performed a CPR in an effort to revive his mate. Sadly, Jones, who was shifted to a nearby hospital ambulance, couldn't be saved.
Lee was later seen fronting up the cameras in the pre-game show, something that must've required from the 43-year-old a lot of strength and courage after the traumatic incident seeing 'Deano' die.
Lee covered the segment called 'Select Dugout' along with New Zealand player and Jones' friend, Scott Styris, who broke down on the show speaking of the cricketing giant from Victoria.
"I think the thing we want to say about Deano is he would have wanted us to be here tonight," Lee said on the show. "It's pretty much the 'Select Deano' we call it. It's Deano's dugout tonight."
"He is an absolute legend. Firstly to his family and friends we send our condolences. It's a real tough day for everyone, not only for his close mates ... and the whole cricketing world in general."
"What Deano would've wanted is for us to come out here in the dugout, get it done, have some fun for the game we all love."
Building up to the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in Dubai, Styris said Jones was exercising earlier in the day inside the hotel, which is booked by Star for commentators and the production staff and serves as a bio-bubble of sorts, with them travelling from there to Star's studios in Mumbai.
"Who would have thought ... this morning we got up, I had breakfast with Deano. I watched him jog up and down the hallway," said Styris.
"That was his way of keeping fit because of course we are in the bubble here in Mumbai. Who would have thought merely a couple of hours later he had this heart attack or some sort of cardiac problem. It's incredibly sad."
"He thought this to be the Deano show really. He's on to me every day with new ideas on how we can make it better. So I think it's the right thing to do to be here, it's gonna be hard but we hope to make him feel proud tonight."
Commentating for the host broadcaster, former Australia players Michael Slater and Lisa Sthalekar, were in just as much disbelief and dismay over what had happened.
"Brett Lee contacted Kevin Pietersen. Brett was beside himself and was just wanting some friends and support because he'd worked on Deano for half an hour before the ambos came," Slater told Channel Seven.
"I've got to say it was one of the hardest broadcasts I've ever had to do."
(Inputs from SMH)
