The most senior player in the team is at a stage where someone new from the team will inherit the lessons of his legacy. For him, it’s not about standing out anymore but to groom and share the experience with two new spinners who are looking to fight a hard battle which is to make their name as prime spinner in Australian team.
The series in India was definitely a big opportunity for Lyon to lead the band of two young spinners. It needed something extraordinary to restrict and overpower Indian superstars in their backyard. A job worthy of all the efforts to put in, each of the three visiting off spinners had their day, picking fifer and changing the course of the game.
The best performing from Lyon came in Indore test match, where he picked 3/35 and 8/64, Australia winning the first test match of the series after facing two hard to swallow losses in Nagpur and Delhi.
While talking during post match talk, Nathan Lyon said, “It’s been a tough challenge, but it’s been rewarding. I think our group can take a lot from it. There are some areas where we can improve but some proud moments along the way. It’s always a great challenge coming over here and something I love doing.”
While the first three matches favoured the spinners, the last match in Ahmedabad was proved to be a laborious work for the bowlers, batters enjoyed batting here with plenty of runs coming from Usman Khawaja, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and Cameron Green.
“This was a totally different surface to the first three Tests. Shubman just found out it’s pretty hard work to bowl here,” Lyon said. “It was compacted and with not many footworks, so pretty challenging.”
#TeamIndia have qualified for the ICC World Test Championship Final for the second time in a row.
See you at The Oval 🙌🙌 pic.twitter.com/aMuHh28kGK
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 13, 2023
Both teams have now confirmed seat in WTC final, which could be last for a number of players. How entertaining a thing cricket is! Kane Williamson, the man who once played a role to defeat India in WTC final, has now given India a place in the WTC final.
Considering what was happening at the Hagley Oval, Nathan Lyon said, “We were watching the score (in Christchurch) but we kinda knew we were going to be facing India in the final. We know how tough these guys are and we’ll have to prepare well. I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a very good experience.”
There is long way to go for Matt Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy but they couldn’t have asked for a better beginning of their test career. As we have seen in past times, it’s India where either you do good and go on to become one of the best or you lose all your potential because it is really a challenging place to play cricket for visitors.
“I feel like I’ve been able to play a big role in the start of their journey. They should head home very proud of what they’ve been able to achieve. It’s no easy feat coming here and bowling spin to the best players of spin in the world,” Lyon said about how two new spinners fared in the series.