Lee made the distinction during an appearance on The Ranveer Show, where a conversation about his IPL experiences turned towards the players who had left the deepest impression on him. “I’ve always said that I think that the best batsman to ever play the game is Sachin Tendulkar, but the best cricketer, in my opinion, is Jacques Kallis. The best numbers in the world. If you look at his stats, the stats don’t lie. He’s incredible,” Lee said.

The admiration for Kallis was shaped not merely by what Lee had seen from the opposition dressing room. The two played together for Kolkata Knight Riders, including during their title-winning IPL campaign in 2012, giving Lee the opportunity to observe the South African’s preparation from close quarters.

Kallis built one of the most complete careers in international cricket, combining elite batting numbers with a substantial body of work as a fast-medium bowler. But Lee’s memories of him were just as much about the manner in which he prepared as the numbers he eventually produced.

“But to be alongside him as a teammate and to watch him prepare for a game. His heart rate was about thirty beats a minute before going out to bat,” Lee said. “So relaxed. Now it might have been organised chaos in the head, but externally it looked as though he was just so chilled.”

Lee also remembered the consistency of Kallis’ pre-batting routine. It was a small detail, but one that stayed with him because of how precisely the same process appeared to unfold every time. “The way I’d watch him get changed, for he put his gear on like his batting gear and he’d put his left sock on first. His other sock would go in his mouth. Same thing every single day. Gets his socks, one in the mouth, puts the left sock on, puts his right sock on, puts his left pad on, right pad, whichever way it was. It was the same every single time and just get up and just out of his chair, wiggle, go out and just dominate,” Lee said.

That sense of stillness stood in sharp contrast to some of the other elite players Lee encountered during his career. He cited Mike Hussey as an example of a player whose preparation relied far more heavily on movement and physical activity before going out to bat.

“Then you look at other players like Mike Hussey’s of the world, they’d be jumping up and down, running up and down, making sure he wouldn’t hurt himself. Just different ways to get ready and prepare. And I love that I was taken into that environment thanks to the IPL,” Lee said.

For Lee, that was one of the great benefits of the IPL. Players who had spent years facing one another at international level were suddenly sharing dressing rooms, allowing them to see the routines, habits and personalities behind the performances.

His assessment of Tendulkar and Kallis reflects two different measures of greatness. Tendulkar’s record with the bat placed him at the centre of international cricket for more than two decades, while Kallis combined sustained run-scoring with the output of a frontline bowler.

Lee had seen Tendulkar from the other end, trying to dismiss one of the most accomplished batters the sport has produced. With Kallis, he also got to see the quieter details — the preparation, the repetition and the remarkable calm before another innings began.

That dressing-room view only strengthened the regard in which he already held the South African. For Lee, Tendulkar remains the standard when the conversation is purely about batting. Kallis’ claim comes from everything else he brought with it.