Lyon expects India to 'come out firing' post Adelaide rout, says 'have plans for Pujara'

After India's tragic defeat at the Adelaide, veteran Australian spinner Nathan Lyon expects the visitors to 'come out firing' in the Boxing Day Test which begins on December 26. Emphasizing on the presence of 'world-class players' in the Indian side, the off-spinner backed the Men in Blue to remain competitive despite the absence of skipper Virat Kohli in the last three Tests. Identifying the presence of 'Pujara threat,' Lyon asserted that Aussies have a couple of more plans to tackle the Test specialist. 

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Nathan Lyon said, "I don't think it will be that difficult when you look at the quality of the Indian side, they've got some absolutely world-class players through the whole squad. It was one of those days where nothing goes right for them and everything goes right for us. We've all had them, it's part of the game." 

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Highlighting that India has players to fill Virat's shoes, Lyon also remarked that the visitors are likely to come after him at the MCG. "For me it's all fun and part of playing Test cricket. Being a spin bowler, you're always going to have guys trying to attack you, it's all a great challenge to be honest," he said. 

When asked of Pujara, Lyon expressed delight at the fact that the Australians could manage to keep him silent in the first Test. “So, hopefully, if he does get in, we can put into ploy…it is always fun challenging yourself against the best players in the world and Pujara is definitely one of those guys,” he said. Apart from targetting a 2-0 lead in the series, Lyon also eyes a remarkable feat of achieving 400 Test wickets by the end of the Border Gavaskar trophy. He currently has 391 wickets in his bag. 

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Australia dealt with a huge blow

Opener David Warner and bowler Sean Abbott will not play in the second cricket test against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground beginning Saturday due to a combination of injuries and COVID-19 quarantine restrictions. Warner and Abbott spent time in Sydney outside the team’s bio-secure hub to recover from injuries.

Warner has not fully recovered from a groin injury sustained in the one-day series against India and would not have been available for the second test. Abbott has recovered from a calf strain sustained during Australia A’s tour match against India and would have been available for selection for the MCG Test.

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India to make changes 

With Virat Kohli departing from Australia for the birth of his first child, Team India have been dealt with another huge blow as speedster Mohammad Shami has been ruled out of the Test series after having suffered a fracture during the Adelaide Test. Team India created an unwanted record after their humiliating batting performance against Australia in the first Test at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday where neither of the batsmen even managed to reach double figures and were eventually restricted to 36/9.

India have now registered their lowest score in the game's longest format. There has been a huge roar to replace out-of-form Prithvi Shaw with Shubman Gill and also bring back Rishabh Pant into playing XI. Apart from Gill, Ravindra Jadeja is also in contention to play the second Test at MCG. 

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