Perth: Though Australia hasn’t tasted success in a home Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India for nearly ten years, veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon is optimistic about their chances this time, citing their triumph over the visitors’ in the 2023 World Test Championship Final.
Australia defeated India by 209 runs to win the second edition of the ICC World Test Championship at The Oval in June 2023, making it their maiden win of the two-year championship cycle.
“India’s got the wood over us in the past few series, but if you’re looking at the World Test Championship (final) in England, we were able to beat them there, and I know that should give us a bit of confidence heading into (this summer).”
“We understand that we’re coming up against a world-class side, but we can take a lot of confidence out of where we are at as an Australian cricket team. I feel like we’re on the journey to becoming a great team. We’re not there yet, there’s a bit of work to do, but we have the opportunity to do something pretty special this summer,” said Lyon to Fox Sports.
India has won its previous two Test tours of Australia by identical 2-1 margins, but heads into the upcoming marquee series on the back of a 3-0 home series defeat at the hands of New Zealand earlier this month, with their star-studded batting line-up looking vulnerable against facing spin bowling.
Lyon, though, expects India to bounce back during the Test series in Australia, to be played in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. “I think they’re extremely dangerous. They’re a class outfit, and they know their best preparation and how to come out here and perform.”
“It’s going to be a cracking Test series. It’s been a long ten years since Australia’s held the trophy. There’s only a few of us that would probably be in the squad that’s actually held the trophy, so it’s time to bring it home.” IANS
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