IND vs AUS 2020: Nathan Lyon - Australia ready to go against India despite injury woes
Nathan Lyon says that there is enormous confidence in the Australia team at the moment, and they are raring to go for the series against India despite the squad's injury crisis. Australia have lost David Warner, Will Pucovski and Sean Abbott to injuries ahead of the first Test. The highly-rated Cameron Green is also a doubt after suffering a concussion while playing in the tour match for Australia A against India.
"It's obviously disappointing when you lose guys to injuries and we all know what quality of player David Warner is, but I think both sides have superstars in each lineup. Both teams have got very good bowling attacks, so it's going to be a massive challenge for teams coming out to Australia"
Howevr, Nathan Lyon believes that the team spirit in the Australia camp is very strong, and they have some tricks up their sleeves for the upcoming series against India.
"There's a great vibe within the Australian cricket team at the moment, so I think we're in such a better place than we were two years ago, it's exciting and this is the tightest Australian team I've ever been a part of. So, to have that opportunity come Thursday to get back out there and play some Test cricket, it's going to be pretty exciting. But we've done a bit of homework and we're ready to go."
Australia in a better place than they were two years ago - Nathan Lyon
Nathan Lyon, who is Australia's third highest wicket taker in Test cricket, believes the four-match series for the Border-Gavaskar trophy will be a very exciting challenge for both teams.
India beat Australia 2-1 in the Test series on their last tour Down-Under. But Nathan Lyon says the Aussies are in a much better place than they were when they lost the series in 2018. Australia have bolstered their batting line-up with the return of Steve Smith, while Marnus Labuschagne has also developed into an excellent batsman. They completed a clean-sweep against both Pakistan and New Zealand last summer, after retaining the Ashes in England in 2019.
"We know what happened last series against India out here, we know how well they played, so I know as bowlers we've already spoken about that and we're coming up with a few different plans to hopefully challenge the batters' defence for longer periods of time this time around. We're in a such a better place as a team right now, this team is probably the closest I've ever been a part of, it's exciting, it's a great feeling amongst the team, so it's pretty exciting about the challenges that lie ahead," said Nathan Lyon.
Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, Marnus Labuschagne, Jasprit Bumrah, Nathan Lyon, and Pat Cummins are some of the many world-class players who will be in action during the Test series between India and Australia. The first of the four Test matches gets underway on Thursday, December 17 at the Adelaide Oval.