We Are Expecting The Indian Batsmen To Come Out Firing At Us: Nathan Lyon

Champion Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon has downplayed the fact that the Indian team will have scars of the shambolic 36 all-out that they suffered at the hands of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood in the second innings of the first Test at the Adelaide Oval and he still expects India to come out all guns blazing in the Boxing Day Test.

India was skittled out to their record-lowest Test total of 36 thanks to a sensational spell of fast bowling by Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood but Nathan Lyon has reckoned that Australia cannot go out expecting that they knock over the visitors batting line-up for 50 all over again.

Lyon said that the third day of the Adelaide Test was one of those occasions where everything went right for his team and everything went wrong for India, something that is a part-and-parcel of the game.

“It was one of the days where nothing went right for them and everything went right for us. We’ve had all them, it’s part of the game of cricket. We are expecting them to come out firing and not have any scars from the other day,” Nathan Lyon said on Wednesday. Cricket’s a new game every day so you can’t look too far back on it. We can’t go out there expecting to bowl them out for 50 again.”

Nathan Lyon expecting senior Indian batsmen to step-up in the absence of  Virat Kohli

India will now lock horns with Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a venue where they registered a series-winning 137-run win back in 2018/19. Just like the current series, India had gone into the Boxing Day Test on the back of a crushing defeat in Perth but their hopes of making a comeback this time around have been heavily dimmed by the fact that they will be without their regular skipper Virat Kohli [paternity leave] and Mohammed Shami, who has been ruled out of the series due to fracture.

However, despite the fact that India will be without their superstar batsman Virat Kohli, Nathan Lyon is still expecting the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal to rise to the challenge and possibly fill the void left by Virat.

”You look at the Indian side, there are still some world-class players in their lineup, Pujara, and Rahane, just to name a couple. You still have the likes of Rahul and Agarwal as well who have been exceptional. So I think there are enough guys in the Indian squad who can fill Virat’s shoes, obviously, Virat is a world-class player,” Nathan Lyon said.

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