Nathan Lyon, Australia’s senior off-spinner, remarked that some of his teammates were astonished by the reaction of the members of the Indian team over avoiding the follow-on on Day Four of the third Test at Gabba. At the Gabba, the last wicket partnership between Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep helped India avoid follow-on and averted a possible innings defeat by posting the largest deficit. As soon as Akash got a thick outside edge over gully for four off Pat Cummins, it led to jubilant reactions and high-fives among captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir, and talismanic batter Virat Kohli.
“There’s a few of us who spoke about (how we’re) surprised about their reaction. We have played well and driven the game to where we are. Frustrating but we are still sitting in the changing room 185 in front. I still feel if we bat well, we can push for an Australian win.”
“We can’t control the weather. What we can control is our process. Especially against Jasprit Bumrah, he’s been excellent this series. (India’s reaction) looked like their top-order did not want to bat if we enforced the follow-on. Pushing to enforce the follow-on was pretty challenging with Josh out,” said Lyon to broadcasters Fox Sports during the rain break in day five’s play.
With just 196 balls being bowled in the Test so far, Lyon moaned regarding the weather ruining things, more so after losing Hazlewood to a calf strain. “It’s really frustrating. It’s been the trend of the week. I still feel we have a lot of cricket left in the game. We just need the weather to go away.”
“Mitch and Pat, they’ve been superb for Australia for so many years and I am extremely fortunate to be a part of this Australian bowling attack. They’re hard workers. We pride ourselves on our fielding, and we did that looking at the Australian guys before us.”
Until now, Lyon has also responded according to India using three different spinners for the series so far, wishing to witness Ravichandran Ashwin playing the last two Tests hailing from Melbourne and Sydney respectively.
“Interesting question that-is there someone sitting here (with 530-odd Test wickets) and I’m walking to the ground scratching my head saying ‘What are you doing?’. He has shown he is one of world’s best spin bowlers to have ever played the game. I’m hoping Ash plays in Melbourne and Sydney.”
“More than surprises me. That’s the quality of Indian cricketers they have in that squad. You’ve got Ashwin with 530-odd wickets (536) and then Jadeja over 300 wickets (319). It’s pretty remarkable to see the quality of players sitting on the bench. It’s a good headache to have.”
“Nothing but respect. Just the way Ash has conducted himself on and off the field for a number of years now and his skill set incredible. We have different opinions on different things, there’s no right or wrong.”
Such discussions with a bowler like Ashwin are wonderful. From varied deliveries to different games, understanding how he is trying to do it. We are completely different people. But I loved today’s conversation, and I hope there will be many more to come throughout the series and beyond.”
Lyon, who made his Test debut in 2011, ended by quoting the message he gave himself before his first game with Australia: “Trust yourself. I was very lucky to come into those teams, where you had great players around and Michael Clarke as captain, so you had that support.”
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