It's been a decade that Australia could put their hands around the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), which includes consecutive series defeats on home soil. But veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon believes Australia will reclaim the trophy in a ruthless fashion in the coming Aussie summer.
The BGT will be contested over five Tests for the first time, and on the line could also be a place in the World Test Championship final. Currently India are top of the WTC leaderboard and Australia are No. 2.
But the pain of not having won the trophy since 2014 has been felt in the comments of many Australian cricketers as the build-up to the big face-off continues.
"It’s been 10 years since we have won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. I started thinking about this series when England were over in India...I love the game and I will watch a decent Test match, but I have had eyes on this series (BGT) for a long time now," said Lyon, talking to Alyssa Healy on the 'Willow Talk' podcast.
"My prediction is 5-0 to Australia," said the 36-year-old, who is Australia's most successful off-spinner in Tests with 530 wickets in 129 matches.
Lyon has been making notes about the Indian batsmen since England's tour of India earlier this year.
“I had a really good chat with Tom Hartley (England spinner), just about the way he went about it, when (Yashasvi) Jaiswal went after him. That’s something I picked up from him," said Lyon. "Will Sarfaraz (Khan) come over here or will it be (KL) Rahul? They have got a side full of superstars."
The off-spinner said Australia will need big hundreds from their top batsmen to put the Indian pace attack, which will be led by Jasprit Bumrah, under pressure.
"We need big runs. We need the guys who are talented enough to get the hundred. The likes of Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head, all the top order. I don’t want 101 or 107, I want 180 and 200," Lyon added.
The BGT will be contested over five Tests for the first time, and on the line could also be a place in the World Test Championship final. Currently India are top of the WTC leaderboard and Australia are No. 2.
But the pain of not having won the trophy since 2014 has been felt in the comments of many Australian cricketers as the build-up to the big face-off continues.
"It’s been 10 years since we have won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. I started thinking about this series when England were over in India...I love the game and I will watch a decent Test match, but I have had eyes on this series (BGT) for a long time now," said Lyon, talking to Alyssa Healy on the 'Willow Talk' podcast.
"My prediction is 5-0 to Australia," said the 36-year-old, who is Australia's most successful off-spinner in Tests with 530 wickets in 129 matches.
Lyon has been making notes about the Indian batsmen since England's tour of India earlier this year.
“I had a really good chat with Tom Hartley (England spinner), just about the way he went about it, when (Yashasvi) Jaiswal went after him. That’s something I picked up from him," said Lyon. "Will Sarfaraz (Khan) come over here or will it be (KL) Rahul? They have got a side full of superstars."
The off-spinner said Australia will need big hundreds from their top batsmen to put the Indian pace attack, which will be led by Jasprit Bumrah, under pressure.
"We need big runs. We need the guys who are talented enough to get the hundred. The likes of Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head, all the top order. I don’t want 101 or 107, I want 180 and 200," Lyon added.
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