A good start is half the job done and that is what India will be looking at when they take to the field against Australia in the first Test at Adelaide.

Last time in 2014, India came close to taking out the first match of the series only to squander the advantage they had worked so hard to get, eventually losing the match by 48 runs.

India lost their last eight wickets for just 73 runs to virtually throw away what would have been there second victory at the venue.

Nathan Lyon was the man who did most of the damage picking up seven wickets in India’s second innings, 12 in the match, to help Australia take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Nathan Lyon will once again be the man who India will have to watch as not only is he the most experienced player in the Aussie line up, stats prove he will pose the most pertinent questions to India batsmen in the series.

Lyon has dismissed 15 batsmen five or more times in Tests and five of them are from India. Three of them are India’s biggest hope and they are Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli. The 31-year-old has dismissed Pujara seven times, Rahane six times and Kohli on no fewer than five occasions.

Lyon has 30 wickets to his name against India at home and the Men in Blue are his second favorite opponents at home after West Indies against whom he averages 2.6 wickets per innings.

At Adelaide Oval, his home ground, Lyon’s record is better than any other venue Down Under. He has 37 wickets from just seven matches (fifth highest overall at the venue) and has never gone wicket less in a Test Inning. Six times he has picked up three or more wickets at a venue where he even worked as part of the ground staff.

Australia will come from all angles at India in the first Test at Adelaide and if India are to exorcise the demons of 2014 taming Lyon would go a long way in helping.

First Published: Dec 02, 2018 13:42 IST