‘Cut the head of snake, and the body falls away’
BANGALORE: Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon produced a masterclass of spin bowling in the second Test against India on Saturday and then said he had drawn a lot by watching his Indian counterpart Ravichandran Ashwin bowl in the sub-continent conditions. Lyon produced a superb bowling display, claiming 8/50, as India were bundled out for 189. India skipper Virat Kohli was among his victims, trapped leg before attempting to leave a delivery. His failure for the third innings in a row in the series gave Lyon and Australia a firm grip.
Asked to describe the dismissal, Lyon gave an analogy.
“Definitely pleasing,” he told the media when asked about Kohli, who was out for 12.
“Virat is a world class batter so we expect him to bounce back. But he is the head of the snake, to put it in Dale Steyn’s terms, and if you can take that, the body will fall away. It was pretty pleasing to take Virat’s wicket.”
He was modest while describing the delivery that didn’t turn as much as the India skipper expected.
“It was his mistake today. That ball was nothing special, if you ask me. But Virat is a world class batter, we were lucky today, but we expect him to bounce back. It is a really, really great day for Australia, and that is what we are focused on.”
IN RECORD BOOKS
The 29-year-old ended became the most successful Australian bowler against India. Lyon (58 wickets) surpassed the previous record holder – Brett Lee- when he dismissed Ashwin to claim his fourth wicket of the match. The figures of 8/50 was also the best bowling performance by any overseas bowler in India, bettering South Africa all-rounder Lance Klusener’s 8/64 at the Eden Gardens in 1996. Lyon also proved his control over the Indian batsmen as the off-spinner took the wickets of skipper Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara for the fifth time in his career - the most by any bowler. He also dismissed out-of-form Ajinkya Rahane for the fourth time in his career. Lyon said he worked with his mentor, John Davison, a former Canada allrounder, who bowls off-spin and is a spin coach with Australia, and Darren Berry, who is an assistant coach with BBL team Sydney Sixers, for whom Lyon plays. Lyon had spoken of watching videos of Ashwin bowl going into the series. He said: “I studied a lot of what Ashwin does. He is the best spinner in the world, and if I can learn a bit from him, so be it. But credit goes to Davison and Berry for the work they put in. I find it very satisfying to get some reward.”