Border-Gavaskar Trophy: No room for error against Pant, says Oz spinner Lyon

Veteran Australian spinner Nathan Lyon feels there is no room for error when bowling to Rishabh Pant, adding that the young India wicketkeeper-batter has a superabundance of talent to tame the best attack in the world. Pant will be an...

PTI

Mumbai, Updated At : 10:39 AM Sep 25, 2024 IST

In India’s last two away Test series against Australia, Pant scored 624 runs in 12 innings at an average of 62.40.

Pant will be an integral part of the Indian batting lineup during the five-Test Border-Gavaskar series beginning in Perth on November 22.

The 26-year-old Pant recently returned to Test cricket after nearly 21 months following a near-fatal car crash in December 2022, and smashed a century against Bangladesh in the first Test at Chennai.

“You’re bowling against someone like Rishabh Pant, who is electric. He’s got all the skills in the world,” Lyon, who has snared 530 Test scalps and will be expected to play a key role in the series against India, said. “As a bowler, your room for error is so small. So, you’ve got to be good. It’s a challenge as a bowler if I’m going to get hit for six,” added the 36-year-old.

Pant has been magnificent in the last two Test series against Australia, accumulating 624 runs in 12 innings at an average of 62.40, including a century and two half-tons with a top score of 159 not out.

Lyon said he would try to push Pant on the back foot and get him to commit a few mistakes. “I’m not afraid of getting hit for a six. The challenge is that I can provide the batters and try and keep someone like Rishabh in his crease and potentially try and get him to defend me a lot more... and hopefully, bring a couple of chances along the way,” he said.

Australian captain Pat Cummins acknowledged that Pant has been a “major influence” in India’s back-to-back Test series wins Down Under, stressing the need to keep the flamboyant wicketkeeper-batter “quiet” in the series.

“He’s someone that had a big influence in a couple of series and we have got to try and keep him quiet,” Cummins said. “Someone like Pant might play a reverse slap and it’s an incredible shot, and that’s just part of who he is. I think we’ve become a bit more accustomed.”