Empty stands won’t stop Virat Kohli drama in Australia v India blockbuster, says Nathan Lyon
If Australia’s mouth-watering summer series with India is forced behind closed doors, Nathan Lyon backs the Indian skipper to still put on a show, joking “it’ll be amazing to see Virat trying to rev up the (empty) seats”.
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Australia’s attack has questioned how Indian superstar Virat Kohli will manufacture the energy that makes him the world’s fiercest cricketer if crowds are locked out this summer.
Spinner Nathan Lyon — acting as a kindergarten teacher for his two daughters at home in Sydney — was “disappointed” that June’s tour of Bangladesh was cancelled, which makes the home series against India Australia’s next Test assignment.
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“I was actually talking to Mitch Starc the other day and we said if we are playing with no crowd it’ll be quite amazing to see Virat try to rev up the seats,” Lyon said on Tuesday.
“It’s going to be a little bit different, but Virat’s a superstar so he’ll be able to adapt.”
Lyon labelled India’s No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara “the new wall” after he faced 1258 balls – 564 more than any other player – as India won a series on Australian soil for the first time in 2018-19.
Pujara averaged 74.4 that series and frustrated the Aussies so much that Lyon asked if was bored during his 193 (off 373 balls) at the SCG.
“We’re going to have to come up with some new plans to combat Pujara. He definitely won’t fly under the radar this summer,” Lyon said.
Lyon, who had his Hampshire county deal cancelled because of coronavirus, praised Test captain Tim Paine’s ability to “use humour to distract the opposition” and revealed he had watched footage of last year’s Ashes run-out blunder multiple times.
Lyon failed to collect the ball, costing Australia a one-run victory as Ben Stokes became the hero at Headingley.
Wow. How good is this from Virat Kohli? Steve Smith is sent to field on the boundary, and immediately cops the most hideous boos from the Indian fans. So Kohli turns to that stand and gestures for them to clap Smith. #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/GBTPaolOXh
— Sam Landsberger 🗯 (@SamLandsberger) June 9, 2019
“What helps get over it is seeing Tim Paine lift up the urn. I’ve definitely watched that a couple of times here at home, reliving that moment,” Lyon said.
“It was unfortunate that we didn’t win the series, but if you said to me that we’d make the World Cup semi-final and retain the Ashes, I would have taken that before heading over there.”
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Originally published as Empty stands won’t stop Virat Kohli drama in Australia v India blockbuster, says Nathan Lyon
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