India win toss, opt to bat against Australia in second test

“So the strike was being rotated and we were getting 3-4 runs an over, so that’s when I chose to restrict myself and waited for them to pull the fielders behind that didn’t happen as we kept losing wickets”, he said.

There are areas to be exploited on this Chinnaswamy Stadium track and given Ashwin’s recent success, he is aware India looks up to him.

Lyon produced the best performance of his 65-Test career, finishing with astonishing figures of 8-50 against the hosts in Bangalore. He suffocated the Indian batsmen with his turn and bounce, and got his reward for bowling exceptionally well as his figure is now the best one by a visiting bowler in India.

Revisit that winning run, an unbeaten 19 Tests stretching back to the tour of Sri Lanka in 2015, and in that light, they face a daunting task ahead of the Bengaluru Test.

Starc was expecting an abrasive centre square lined with used wickets to offer extra help to make the ball reverse, but instead the middle was strikingly lush and green, meaning Australia will have to work extra hard to move the ball off the straight.

Ravi Ashwin is the best bowler in the world for a reason and should Australia find themselves batting last on this surface he could be the difference between the two teams.

“It’s the toughest place to play cricket”.

For long, we believed Indians play spin well. They have taken 26 of the 30 wickets to have fallen in the series so far, 13 each at an average of exactly 9.

Lyon, a former pitch curator himself, is a motivated man.

Undone by the lack of spin Right from the first over be bowled, Lyon had gotten in to a fantastic rhythm. “I just want to prove that I’m good enough”.

Lyon has now claimed a record 58 wickets in Border-Gavaskar battles, surpassing Brett Lee (53 wickets). That Test was pretty special for other reasons.

“My eyes were sort of spinning and I was in a bit of a trance – I think I’ve been there a couple of times in that kind of mindset”. “I know the ball before bounced and hit him on the thigh-pad and he’s a bit anxious about those two men on the leg side, but that’s bread-and-butter for an Indian batsman, a class player”. That last hour was big for me, I had my pads on so this is the first time I have smiled. They need to take every chance they can to put India under pressure and throw them off their dominant game.

And giving full credit to Australia, Hirwani said, “They had prepared well, no doubt”.