"I'm not afraid...": Nathan Lyon ready for battle against Rishabh Pant in BGT 2024-25

Veteran Australian spinner Nathan Lyon will once again be up against Rishabh Pant in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Lyon and Pant have had a fierce rivalry over the years in Test cricket.

While the offspinner has dismissed Pant five times in Test cricket so far, the wicketkeeper-batter hasn't been shy about taking the attack to him. Pant has faced 347 balls overall in Test cricket where he has scored 229 runs off him.

He has scored these runs at an impressive strike rate of 66 and an excellent average of 45.8. Pant's aggressive approach against Lyon's experience gives all the reasons for an exciting battle between these two highly skilled players.

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Nathan Lyon opens up on the battle with Rishabh Pant ahead of the BGT 2024-25

While speaking to Star Sports in the build-up for the series, Nathan Lyon spoke about the challenge of bowling to someone like Rishabh Pant. Lyon feels that Pant has all the skills and the bowlers can't afford to make any mistakes.

"You're bowling against someone like Rishabh Pant who is electric, isn't he? He has got all the skill in the world. As bowlers, your room for error is so small. You have got to be good and that's the challenge," Lyon said.

Lyon vs Pant 2.0! 🔥

Will #NathanLyon turn the tide this time, or will #RishabhPant come out on top again? 🇮🇳 vs 🇦🇺

The #ToughestRivalry unfolds in #AUSvINDOnStar, FRI 22 NOV onwards 💙 pic.twitter.com/7eT6mwX8UM

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) September 24, 2024

Lyon further revealed the plans to bowl to an ultra-aggressive batter like Pant. The offspinner spoke about bowling defensive lines to the India wicketkeeper and trying to create chances.

"As a bowler, I know I am going to get hit for a six but I am not afraid about getting hit for a six. The challenge is to try and keep someone like Rishabh in his crease and potentially try and get him to defend more and hopefully bringing a couple of chances on the way. But, it's pretty fun," he added.

Rishabh Pant shines on his Test return

Rishabh Pant just played his first Test since his return to professional cricket from a life-threatening accident in December 2022. The Test match was against Bangladesh at Chennai where Pant registered scores of 39 and 109 across both the innings.

In both the innings, Rishabh Pant looked at his aggressive best and it hardly seemed like he was playing his first Test match after a long time. He played both the spinners and fast bowlers with utmost ease and smashed runs all around the park in his trademark fashion.

India have won the Test series on their last two tours of Australia and Rishabh Pant is a big reason behind those victories. In the 2018-19 series, he emerged as the second-highest run-getter of the series with 350 runs in 4 Tests at an average of 58.33.

In the 2020-21 series, the wicketkeeper-batter scored 274 runs in 3 Tests at an average of 68.50 and finished as the third-highest run-scorer of the series. The series also included the famous 89* at the Gabba which helped India win the historic series 2-1.