Australia seamer Josh Hazlewood feels spinner Nathan Lyon will be the key man in the home side’s bowling attack as they look to tame India’s batting line-up in the upcoming Test series, starting on Thursday.
Much of the build-up to the four-match series has been about how India’s batsmen will cope with the home side’s pace trio of Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.
However, Hazlewood believes Lyon’s ability to bowl long spells from one end and allowing the pacemen to rotate from the other side will be vital to the home side’s success.
ALSO READ: Head expecting Adelaide pitch to assist pace bowlers
Hazlewood said of Lyon: “He’s the key for me with the four of us, you have Starcy who bowls shorter spells and sometimes Patty too so to have Nath, it even worked well two weeks ago when we played the shield game.
“Nathan pretty much bowled from one end after the new ball and we filtered through from the other end, it’s hard to get a fun off him and he takes wickets, it’s good to have that down the other end and he makes that group what it is.
“Partnerships are a big one for us, always bowling for the guys following you. We’re all leaders in our own right.”
The 27-year-old Hazlewood made his Test debut against India four years ago in Brisbane and has got to 40 appearances in the longest format.
He says he still feels the excitement ahead of another home summer, especially with new players coming into the side ahead of the first Test that will be played at the Adelaide Oval.
Hazlewood continued: “I feel a lot of extra excitement, potentially a debutant [Marcus Harris], it’s always good to have that around the group.
“It’s the excitement of the Australian summer coming around again there’s nothing better than playing Test cricket in Australia.
“Excitement is the main thing. We’ve got a couple of days’ training to fine tune a few things. A few guys have played a lot of cricket but excitement is the main thing.”
As it turns out, you can learn much about cricket while someone has got their hands down your pants…
When you think about it, there’s nothing quite like a cricketing batting collapse…
With Dhawan, of course, the most obvious expression of his enjoyment comes with the bat.
Cooky must still love the game an awful lot. This is brilliant from him…
Cook is one of the greatest ever to play in Test cricket. England are lacking in quality batsmen. Surely not?!
Gary Ballance expects England to be a major force at this summer’s World Cup.
It could have so different for these three young Melbourne Stars fans. Cricket can be cruel…
The batsman has represented the Windies in 284 ODIs so far and has an average of 36.89 in that format.
Former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh said he reminded him of “a left-arm Mr Bean.”
Jason Roy and Joe Root both reached centuries for England on Sunday.