Australia’s premier off-spin bowler, Nathan Lyon, is optimistic that his side can overcome a decade of “unfinished business” against India as they gear up for the five-match home series. The Test series is set to start on November 22, with the opening Test scheduled to be held in Perth.
It is worth noting that Australia has not won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy since the 2014-15 season, when they secured a 2-0 win over India. They have suffered consecutive series defeats on home soil. In the 2020-21 series, India suffered a humiliating defeat after being bowled out for just 36 runs in Adelaide. However, they staged a stunning comeback, winning the series with impressive triumphs at the MCG and Gabba, and a draw in Sydney.
“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. Don’t get me wrong, India is an absolute superstar side and extremely challenging but I’m extremely hungry to turn things around and make sure we get that trophy back.
“Feel like we are a different team to a couple of years ago, we are on a journey of becoming a great Australian cricket team. We’re definitely not there but we are along that journey and have been playing some decent cricket,” Lyon was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Lyon also lavished praise on India‘s knack for producing world-class talent, stressing young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s name. The 36-year-old commended Jaiswal’s performance in India’s recent 4-1 series victory over Ben Stokes and Co. However, he believes he can utilize his experience in county cricket this winter to gather valuable insights when they face the Rohit Sharma-led side.
“I haven’t come across him [Jaiswal] yet, but that will be a massive challenge for all us bowlers. The way he played against England, I watched that quite closely and thought that was quite amazing. I had some really good chats with Tom Hartley about different ways he went about it to different guys which I found quite interesting.
“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,” he added.
Lyon further acknowledged that the insights gained could also be relevant for their next Ashes series. When asked if he believed the discussions about India would be beneficial, he said “If the plans we’ve spoken about come to true, then I think it will be.”
Lyon further recalled the game when they bowled out India for 36 in the second innings in Adelaide. He went on to say that India has got unbelievable depth in all formats.
“There are quite a few players who have never beaten India in a Test series. It’s quite astounding to say that. That’s one we need to tick off, definitely, in particular at home – we should pretty much win every series here at home. That last series we obviously bowled them out for 36 in Adelaide and we thought here we go, [we are] back at home [and] confident on these grounds. People say we played India B in that last Test, but they can sometimes be stronger than the best team. They’ve got unbelievable depth in all formats, and we are starting to see that now,” he said further.
