New Delhi: Star off-spinner Nathan Lyon has proven to be a crucial asset for the Test side of the Australian cricket team. As it turns out, he has proven it again on why he has been a regular for so long now. With the five-Test Border-Gavaskar series still three months away, Lyon has already started preparing for it, making notes on batters who could be a potential threat for the mighty Aussies.
For his homework on the series that begins on November 22, Lyon is taking help from England spinner Tom Hartley. He is keeping his focus on swashbuckling opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, trying to figure out how to get rid of him early. The southpaw scored a century on debut in the West Indies last year, scoring a massive 712 runs in the five-Test series against England at home earlier this year.
It is to be noted that the pitch conditions down under, specially the pace and bounce might trouble the Mumbaikar a bit. “I haven’t come across him (Jaiswal) yet, but that will be a massive challenge for all us bowlers. The way he (Jaiswal) played against England, I watched that quite closely and thought that was quite amazing,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Lyon as saying.
“I had some really good chats with Tom Hartley (English left-arm spinner) about different ways he went about it to different guys which I found quite interesting,” Lyon revealed. He also had a brief stint in English county cricket playing for Lancashire and took out the opportunity to pen down notes with Hartley, who picked 20 scalps in the four Tests against India, also being someone possessing first-hand knowledge about Jaiswal’s heroics.
‘Unfinished business’
36-year-old Lyon feels that with so much information heaving, the Kangaroos have a great opportunity to finish the “unfinished business against India. “I love talking about cricket, so if I can talk to someone who has played Test cricket, I might be able to pick up something I’m not aware of. There’s so much knowledge floating around this game that we can always tap into,” Lyon said.
The Australians last won the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar 2-0 and have since lost the next four series against India. They went down against Virat Kohli’s side in 2016-17 and in 2018-19 and lost the next two to Ajinkya Rahane (2021) and Rohit Sharma (2023). Along with Lyon, Josh Hazlewood is one other survivor from the 2014-15 lost series and the later ones as well which present a significant hole in their record.
It’s been ten years of unfinished business, it’s been a long time, and I know we’re extremely hungry to turn things around, especially here at home,” Lyon said. He did praise India, terming them as “an absolute superstar and extremely challenging side” but insisted that he is hungry to turn things around get the trophy back for his team.
Nathan Lyon is gearing up for five-match home Test series against India and has already started his homework on potential threats for the Aussies. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
