Explosive batsman Brown turned down IPL offer ..

Surrey batsman Alistair Brown has revealed that he turned down an offer to play in the inaugural Indian Premier League after he was recommended by Sachin Tendulkar.

Brown has caught the eye of the Indian superstar on a number of occasions in his distinguished career, and the 'Little Master' expressed an interest in recruiting the 38-year-old due to the devestating impact he can have on the shorter format of the game.

Tendulkar was on the receiving end of Brown's only international century against India at Old Trafford in 1996 and the explosive right-hander also recorded the highest one-day score after smashing a breathtaking 268 off 160 balls for Surrey against Glamorgan in 2002.

Brown admitted that although he was extremely tempted by the offer to compete in the multi-million pound tournament, he felt indebted to his county and plans to see out the remainder of his career with the Oval-based outfit.

"I got a call from Harbhajan Singh [Tendulkar's India team-mate, who had played for Surrey] a week before we were due back training in March," he told The Times.

"It was a bit of surprise to start with, but I thought about it for 24 hours and then gave him a polite 'no'.

"The main reason was that I've been at the Oval for 20 years and they have been the best 20 years of my life.

"The club have been incredibly good to me and, having signed a one-year contract, I didn't feel it was quite right to turn round and say: 'Let's tear that up and do something different.'"

Despite further persuasion from the Indian duo, Brown resisted amidst a combination of immense financial temptation and the lure of competing against some of the greatest players to ever grace the sport.

"Harbhajan came back and said he wanted me to think again because Sachin wanted me to go out and play and it would be a big contract on a three-and-a-half-year deal," said Brown.

"They were talking telephone numbers - I won't go into details, but it was going to be a vast increase on what I'm earning here and I wouldn't say I'm earning badly - and the opportunity of playing with the likes of Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya and Harbhajan turned your head.

"Tendulkar is the best player I've seen and Jayasuriya probably influenced my England call-up with his pinch-hitting.

"It would have been fun but, ultimately, I had signed a contract with the club. At my age, I suppose they could have done something but I didn't go and ask them.

"I was flattered to be asked to go to India and if I'd been in a different situation things would have been different, but they weren't and I'm certain I made the right decision. Life's not all down to money."