text: Lehmann made his Test debut in the Third Test against India in March 1998 in Bangalore, after Steve Waugh suffered a hamstring injury. Lehmann scored 52 on debut, as well as claiming Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin while bowling. Selectors were impressed with his performance,  and when Waugh returned from injury on the tour of Pakistan later that year, Ricky Ponting was instead dropped. Lehmann scored 98 in the First Test in Rawalpindi, but an injury forced him out of the Second Test in Peshawar in which Taylor scored a (then) Australian record 334 not out on a flat pitch in a high-scoring drawn match. Lehmann failed to perform in the final Test in Karachi and, despite scoring his maiden ODI century, he was dropped for the first two Tests of the 1998/99 Ashes series. Ponting was recalled by the selectors, under the justification of "horses for courses", as he was regarded as a superior player of pace bowling but weaker in spin, with the first two Tests being held on bouncy wickets in Brisbane and Perth. However, failures by Ponting in the first three Tests saw Lehmann recalled to the team for the final two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney. Further failures by Lehmann in those Tests saw him dropped in early 1999 from the Test team to tour the West Indies, who had a pure pace attack.