“Bowling to Virat Kohli is like playing against a whole nation,” Nathan Lyon reveals the kind of pressure he feels while bowling to Kohli
The pitch at Oval will have bounce which Nathan Lyon will enjoy and he might create a bit of headache for India with his accurate off spin
The Australian off spinner Nathan Lyon, who has got more than 400 wickets in his test career so far, has said that when he has to bowl to Virat Kohli, it feels to him that he is playing against a whole nation.
Nathan Lyon was talking to ICC’s official broadcaster Star Sports ahead of the start of the World Test Championship (WTC) final on Wednesday. Lyon said that bowling to Kohli is a privilege as well because he is the best player in the world and he has been the best for a long time.
But, it also brings enormous pressure on the bowler because if the bowler manages to get Kohli out, he suddenly becomes the most hated player simply because of the stardom that Kohli carries in the cricket world.
Nathan Lyon will be a part of Australia’s playing XI for the WTC final, as the XI has already been announced by the Australian captain Pat Cummins and Lyon might have a big role to play as well, even though the game will be played in English conditions.
The Oval, where the WTC final will take place, offers a lot of bounce to the bowlers and the bounce doesn’t just help the fast bowlers to get the edges carrying through to the slips, it helps spinners as well, particularly a spinner like Nathan Lyon who relies more on bounce than spin.
Nathan Lyon might have to bowl a lot of overs in WTC final
If the curators don’t leave a lot of grass on the Oval surface, it will be a battle of batsmen and Lyon will have to bowl plenty of overs for Australia to hold one end up, so that the fast bowlers can bowl short, fiery spells from the other end on a flat and bouncy surface.
The battle between Kohli and Lyon will be the one to watch out for, as Lyon has now admitted that he feels a lot of pressure while bowling to Kohli.
