Nathan Lyon Relishes Indian challenge with 5-for

Off-spinner Nathan Lyon said he enjoys the challenge of bowling in the sub-continent after his fivewicket haul helped Australia edge ahead in the second Test against India on Saturday. Lyon returned figures of 5-67 as Australia bowled India out for 262, edging a razor-thin one-run lead on an intense day two in New Delhi.

It was Lyon’s 22nd Test five-for as he became the first Australian bowler to claim 100 Test wickets against India. “There is a little bit of bounce here and that is something that I like to exploit,” said Lyon, who returned a match haul of nine wickets in his previous outing at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in 2013. “I love playing cricket in the subcontinent, it’s a challenge,” the 35-year-old told reporters.

“Today was an amazing challenge against some world-class superstars. Happy with the way I came out and the role I played.” Lyon cut through the Indian toporder in the morning session including the wickets of skipper Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara, out for a duck in his 100th Test, in the space of three balls. Australia’s batsmen then took on the home bowlers with Travis Head smashing an unbeaten quickfire 39 to drive the tourists to 61 for one at stumps. Lyon said he is “quite close” with Head and supported the left-hander even after he was dropped for the opener, which India won inside three days to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.

“I did reach out to him, I did see if he was ok... what I love about him, he always looks at the positives, he always wants to do the right role for the team,” he said. “I’m really happy to see him out there competing the way he is at the moment, I thought he was absolutely exceptional.”

Australia had to overcome a lowerorder fightback after reducing India to 139-7 with Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin amassing 114 runs for the eighth wicket. “They’re not the lower order, let’s get that clear,” Lyon said with a chuckle. “Axar and Ash could easily bat in the top six in a few teams in Test cricket around the world in my eyes. They have a very long top order, let’s just say that.” Australia lead by 62 runs with nine wickets in hand in the second innings.