India, Aug. 10 -- Brett Lee saw Virat Kohli before the hundreds, the records and the weight of becoming the biggest name in Indian cricket. What struck the former Australia quick then was not merely the young batter's technique or talent. It was his eyes.

Lee believes Kohli possessed a competitive intensity that separated him from others even at the beginning of his international journey, recalling the unmistakable message he sensed whenever the two came up against each other.

"You can see it in his eyes. There are sportspeople that, they've got it and they might not have it at the start, but they've got that mental attitude, whether they can just focus more than other people," Lee said on The Ranveer Show. "And you've seen his eyes. He...