Australia’s Nathan Lyon. (FILE)
Nathan Lyon says Australia are desperate to rectify their Test series counts against India this summer. The fact that his offie counterpart R Ashwin has won the last four editions of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, while the Baggy Greens haven’t won in nearly a decade has been an itch this whole start of the summer.
“India’s got the wood over us in the past few series,” Lyon told Fox Cricket, adding there’s hope ahead. “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),” Lyon said.
“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,” he added.
The World Champions in Tests and ODIs have a glaring miss in their trophy cabinet – and that is the series bragging rights against India which has tasted astounding success in the last decade. But Lyon reckons the Aussies are on their way to reversing the trend.
“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,” he said.
Lyon however refused to think the Indians wounded after being licked by New Zealand 3-0, and urged his team not to sit back expecting them to fold up. He in fact expected them to bounce back in Australia.
“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,” said the spinner who turns 37 in two days on Wednesday.
“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,” he hoped.
