It's Always A Great Battle With Him; Nathan Lyon Looking Forward To His Duel With Rishabh Pant

Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon has had a field day in what is a landmark Test match for the veteran bowler. The champion cricketer is playing his 100th Test for Australia- a journey that has been a fairytale given the fact that he started off as a groundsman at the Adelaide Oval.

Lyon is also closing on yet another monumental landmark as he is set to become the first Australian off-spinner and third overall after Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan and India’s Harbhajan to breach Mount 400 in Test match cricket.

And, he got one step closer to that on the second afternoon of the ongoing Gabba Test as he claimed his 397th victim in the form of Rohit Sharma. Sharma was going amazingly well before a sudden rush of blood or one can say a ‘brain-freeze’ led to his downfall as he holed out to the king of ‘over-spin’ at deep mid-wicket.

Lyon, as expected was chuffed to bits, as he opened up on the grandiose occasion that is his 100th Test. The off-spinner hailed the crowd for their support but also lamented the fact that he can’t celebrate the occasion by going out with his family for dinner due to bubble restrictions.

Looking forward to my battle with Rishabh Pant: Nathan Lyon

Besides claiming the wicket of Rohit, Nathan Lyon also played a handy cameo- 24 off 22 balls- that helped Australia get to 369. And, the on-drive that he stroked was probably the highlight of not only the innings but also of his 1oo-Test career, as the off-spinner alluded in the interview.

Lyon v Pant has been one of the battles of the series thus far. Pant won it hands down at the SCG as he laid into the veteran off-spinner albeit with some luck- he was dropped twice by Tim Paine. And, Lyon, given the fact that there is a nice crack on the pitch for him to exploit, is looking forward to yet another duel with the Indian southpaw.

”The crowd’s been amazing, Rohit is a world-class player and tried to bowl him my best ball. It would’ve been nice to go out for dinner with everyone, including my parents but there are bubble restrictions. It was like a Day 3 wicket yesterday, and there’s a nice crack outside off-stump so I’m trying to aim at that,” he said.

Rishabh always tries to smash me so I’m looking forward to bowl to him, it’s always a great battle with him. My on-drive was probably my best in my hundred Test matches, not sure I have another one left in me. My natural line is Paine’s right glove, that’s about a foot outside off-stump, and there’s a nice crack on that line so hopefully I can get something out of that,” Nathan Lyon said.

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