Australia v India first Test: Virat Kohli takes remarkable steps to blunt threat of Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon
Virat Kohli got his hands dirty at the SCG nets on Tuesday to create a replica of what it might be like to face Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon on a wearing day-five pitch with a Test match on the line.
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Batting kingpin Virat Kohli turned Lyon tamer on Tuesday at the SCG.
The Indian master showcased why he’s the most dominant matchwinner in world cricket with an extraordinary improvised personal training session.
After already facing the Indian bowlers in a comprehensive net session, Kohli got his hands dirty to create a replica of what it might be like to face Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon on a wearing day-five pitch with a Test match on the line.
Using the bowlers’ footmarks at the opposite end of the nets to act as the rough Lyon would be aiming for in Adelaide next week, Kohli got to work.
He first got down on hands and knees to move the netting out of the way and then hammered three stumps into the ground in the green grass to the left of the popping crease and took guard.
Kohli had India’s throw-down specialists bowl him Lyon-like off-spinners into the rough in a bid to leave no stone unturned before his side launch their summer assault on December 6.
Ironically they were the footmarks left - like they would in a real match - by Lyon’s cartel teammates Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins who had spent the past days bowling to Steve Smith and David Warner.
It was a mesmerising display of why Kohli is the best and why his hunger for world dominance has no bounds.
There was a time when Indian batsmen thought contemptuously of finger spinners.
They raised their eyebrows as if it was milk and honey to them having forged their skills on turning pitches in the subcontinent.
But Kohli’s efforts to plan for Australia’s greatest ever off-spinner shows that they don’t underestimate Lyon.
Lyon averages a very decent 33 with the ball against India, with 64 wickets in 14 Test matches.
The man they call ‘The GOAT’ has dismissed Kohli five times in 25 innings.
Many now believe Lyon rivals India’s Ravi Ashwin as the premier off-spinner in the world, simply because he can fire in all conditions.
Ashwin is an all-time great Steve Waugh once described as the “Bradman of bowlers”.
Showing off his physique in a muscle singlet, Kohli got on the front foot to the off-spinners coming out of the rough and watched every delivery like a hawk.
Kohli is a study of concentration from the moment he pads up to the moment he leaves.
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Originally published as Australia v India first Test: Virat Kohli takes remarkable steps to blunt threat of Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon
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