Lyon sets eyes on battle with Rishabh Pant, says the Indian 'always tries to smash me'

With the battle for the Border Gavaskar Trophy reaching its last leg, India and Australia have locked horns at the Gabba and even after Day 2, the match seems to be anyone's game. The second day of the final Test was cut short by rain but India ensured to clean up the Australian end before the hosts bounced back and dismissed Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. Play on Day 3 will resume with skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara on the crease as India trails by 307 runs. 

With the contest heating up, Nathan Lyon has already set eyes on his awaited battle with Rishabh Pant. At the end of play on day 2, Lyon remarked that he is looking forward to bowl to Rishabh Pant as the Indian wicketkeeper always tries to 'smash' the spinner. The explosive batsman had played a crucial role in the draw at SCG as he brought India back into the game with fiery innings of 97 runs. 

"Rishabh always tries to smash me so I'm looking forward to bowl to him, it's always a great battle with him," Lyon said on Saturday. 

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Moreover, Lyon also reflected upon Australia's innings so far and his plans to bowl out the Indian batsmen. "Rohit is a world-class player and tried to bowl him my best ball. It would've been nice to go out for dinner with everyone, including my parents but there are bubble restrictions. It was like a day 3 wicket yesterday, and there's a nice crack outside off-stump so I'm trying to aim at that," he said. 

"My natural line is Paine's right glove, that's about a foot outside off-stump, and there's a nice crack on that line so hopefully I can get something out of that," Lyon added. 

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Play abandoned after rains on Day 2

After losing Shubman Gill early on in the session, Rohit Sharma carried forward the momentum for India along with Cheteshwar Pujara. However, Rohit Sharma's blunder cost him his well-paced innings as he was dismissed for 44 runs after facing 74 deliveries. Cheteshwar Pujara (8) and Ajinkya Rahane (2) added only two runs in the 6.1 overs before the break. Rain played spoilsport at the Gabba after the Tea break was taken, forcing the day's play to be abandoned. 

India’s injury-depleted attack dismissed Australia for 369 on the second morning of the series-deciding cricket test at the Gabba in a confidence-boosting session for the tourists. Thangarasu Natarajan clean bowled last man Josh Hazlewood to return 3-78 on his test debut and end the Australian innings at lunch on Saturday.

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