Nathan Lyon solidifies dominance over world’s best batsman
He may be the best batsman in the game but Virat Kohli is no match for Nathan Lyon who, on day four in Perth, solidified his standing as the India captain’s greatest ever nemesis in Test cricket.
Nathan Lyon delivered Virat Kohli a double-dose of embarrassment on day four as he knocked the King from his throne at Perth Stadium.
Not only did Lyon dismiss Kohli for a record seventh time in Test cricket but he acutely exposed the Indian captain’s selection blunder in not picking a specialist spinner of his own for the absorbing second Test battle.
Lyon’s five-wicket haul was decisive in the first innings of the match and then with the match on the line he outsmarted the world’s best batsman to solidify his standing as Kohli’s greatest ever nemesis in Test cricket.
In reply, India’s part-time spinner Hanuma Vihari was powerless to stop Australia setting a decisive 287-runvictory target and Kohli was forced to confront the fact he’d made a major selection blunder by picking a four-pronged pace attack after leading spinner Ravi Ashwin was ruled out with injury.
Lyon was asked if he was “surprised” India didn’t pick a spinner to replace Ashwin given his dominance on the bouncy and unpredictable surface, and the Australian bowling leader didn’t mince words: “Yes.”
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The 31-year-old is now comfortably Australia’s most successful ever bowler against India and no international bowler has been as successful against the world’s best batsman – Kohli.
Lyon yielded Kohli’s edge in the 20th over and Usman Khawaja took the simple catch at first slip – prompting raucous celebrations from the Australians as the big wicket fell.
Next over, Lyon had Murali Vijay chopping on and he maintained the heat as he piled pressure on the new batsmen, Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari.
“I can hear his heartbeat from here,” said Tim Paine standing up to the stumps.
Lyon’s past nine first-class innings have highlighted his reputation as the Lyon King – with 35 wickets at a brilliant economy.
Lyon now has 333 Test wickets to his name and counting, with South African Test great Allan Donald the latest bowler he has overtaken on the all-time wicket-taking list.
He is now the 25th most successful bowler in the history of the game and it’s conceivable his next victim could be Indian counterpart Ravi Ashwin (342) on this very tour.
Ashwin was once described by Steve Waugh as “the Bradman of bowlers” and has been widely recognised as the best spinner in the current game.
However, Lyon is breathing down his neck and in many people’s estimations has stolen Ashwin’s crown as the premier slow bowler in the game.
Lyon was described as a “special bowler” by Sachin Tendulkar and the boy from country NSW says his place amongst the all-time giants of the game remains surreal.
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“That’s amazing to get something like that from Sachin Tendulkar,” Lyon said.
“It’s a bit surreal.
“To pass the great ‘White Lightning’ (Donald) it’s pretty special.
“Those types of milestones for me personally haven’t really sunk in. I don’t think I’m at the top of my game yet.
“I think I’ve still got a lot of improvement, a lot of learning about the game and about off-spin bowling. I believe there’s a lot around the corner for me if I keep working hard and keep wanting to get better.
“At the end of my career I’ll sit down with my family and friends and hopefully have a beer with mum and dad and my brother and everyone else and just go ‘OK, that’s where we got to, that’s pretty special’.
“But I’ve got a lot to achieve in my eyes.”
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