Lyon: This team is good enough to get the work done here

"We have come a long way in this series and have been pushing each other to the maximum," said Nathan Lyon.

"I am enjoying the challenge against one of the best sides in the world in their home conditions," says Lyon.

With four wickets in the final session to put Australia in control of the match at the end of Day Two, Nathan Lyon was the star of the day for the visiting team. It was especially rewarding for the off-spinner given the Indians were cruising along through a major part of the day.

“As the day progressed, the pitch started to show variations with bounce and spin but nothing is changed too much. It's hard work playing cricket over here but the way we went about it and tried to dot them up and tried to build pressure on India was fantastic. The Indians have been playing, specially Ajinkya (Rahane), he’s been sweeping me a lot. My plan was to come around the wicket and bring my stock ball and try to be more effective. It worked quite well in the end,” he said at the end of the day’s play.

The conditions here are perhaps closest to home for the 29-year-old and Lyon agreed that he tried to extract bounce from the pitch. “It was closer to home, where I try to generate some bounce. Bounce is probably my biggest weapon where I am getting guys caught bat-pad in the slips. Probably I went back to how I know to bowl, just backing my skills and probably enjoying the challenge against one of the best sides in the world in their home conditions,” he explained.

Lyon was all praise for fast bowler Pat Cummins, who was returning to Test cricket after a gap of six years and was impressive on the day. “I think he showed he’s really world-class and I think Josh Hazelwood has been the same. I reckon it’s great for Australian cricket and exciting to see Patty coming back to the team and bowling fast.”

With India playing five bowlers, Lyon, asked if the Australian team missed a trick in going with four, refused to be drawn into it. “You have to ask (coach) Lehmann and (captain) Smith about that. But I am confident enough of the XI that has been picked for Australia, that we are good enough to get the job done. If that responsibility falls on the four bowlers out there, then so be it. We have come a long way in this series and have been pushing each other to the maximum. We want to compete hard against India so there are a massive couple of days ahead for us,” he said.