With no Lyon in India, Australia might struggle

I am not saying this after the event John Erichsen, but I did predict that an experienced and in-form spinner like Nathan Lyon would be successful on Indian pitches, even for ODIs. Zampa has a lot to learn from rookie Indian spinners. Also Australian selectors have a lot to learn from the Chennai defeat. The pitch helped both the seamers and spinners in the first ODI.

Hi John Erichsen,

More trouble for Australia. Spinner-hitter Jadeja is back in the Indian squad for the ODIs due to an injury to another spinner. Sword-waving Jadeja is a match-winner.

Cheers Kersi. In his current form, Lyon wouldn't do any harm in India, but he is rarely on the radar for the shorter formats, so it comes as no surprise that he is now working toward Ashes preparation.

Anindya, you have a fine sense of humour to appreciate a fine sense of humour! AGordon and John Erichsen, I appreciate your points of view.

I actually think Head can be that solid number 4 in the ODI team. He averages 40 now in ODIs and very rarely fails to contribute. He generally looks solid early in his innings and, unlike many of our batsmen, actually inspires a bit of confidence. On top of that he's only 23 and could be in the side for another 15 years. I wasn't a huge fan of him before he was picked, but his confident and comfortable batting at international level so far has changed my mind. As for Handscomb, I know he did really well in the English 50-over tournament but he just doesn't strike me as much of a limited overs batsman, despite my respect for him as a long form batsman. I may be wrong though. I think our full strength side at the moment looks like this: 1. Warner 2. Khawaja? Finch? Lynn? (this is probably the toughest position at the moment - we'll know more after the domestic one-day cup) 3. Smith 4. Head 5. Maxwell 6. M. Marsh 7. Wade 8. Faulkner 9. Starc 10. Hazlewood 11. Cummins/Zampa (I liked the team we were playing circa 2015, where we had no specialist spinner and just had Maxi roll the arm over and allow us to play three quicks. But that's probably overkill when we've got Marsh bowling his sharp mediums)

Yeah I'm a little worried about Cummins. How dreadful would it be if he got injured on some money-spinning ODI tour and we had none of the four big quicks line up in the first Ashes Test (Starc and Hazlewood will probably be fit but it's still worrying).

Haha "A to Z of Aussie spinners". Love it! That's so witty ? I think I am going to use it in a future article I write ?

Craig, India has other spinners who know India's pitch conditions. The A to Z of Oz spinners, Agar and Zampa, are still raw. I maintain that Lyon for the 5 ODIs would have given Oz attack some much-needed oomph.

"India wouldn’t like it if you sent a substandard team over." That's debatable. History tells us that the most important (non-monetary) thing for the BCCI is Home wins.

No Ashwin and Jadeja and you're surprised Lyon isn't playing? It's more surprising neither of those two, both of whom are signicantly better than Lyon (especially in Indian conditions) aren't playing. Nothing story. Lyon has barely played a ODI or T20 in years, why on earth select him now?

Yes John I think Kohli will justifiably feel he has something to prove. He is by far the best batsman in the world in the shorter format right now but the fall from grace in Tests I am sure rankles. He was due for a bad patch when Australia came around for the Test series but the patch was abysmal. And the fact that he had an impact does not surprise me because he is such a competitor who wants to be a part of the game all the time. He passes on that competitive spirit to the whole team.

lolz the likes of kohli wud have buried him 100 feet under the pitch..

I expect Kohli will be keen to make a statement in this series. He is now no longer ranked in the top five test batsmen and has no claim at all to the best batsman in the world tag. This series wont change that ranking, but it will give him a platform to settle some scores. It is very rare to see Kohli, with bat in hand, looking like he didn't have a clue. I must admit, however, that despite scoring stuff all runs in four tests, he still had a massive impact on the outcome of the series. Not many players could do that in the midst of a horrible form slump. it was most impressive.

Sorry Kersi, but I am struggling to comprehend how anyone could be surprised that Lyon isn't in the Limited Overs squad for India. He has only played 13 Limited Over games since his debut in 2012, so he isn't exactly a walk up start. Sure he had a great test series but the formats are miles apart. I see the association with Botham, but you fail to mention that Ian Botham was as perfect a fit for Limited Overs cricket as there has ever been. Nobody can seriously claim that of Nathan Lyon. He has always been considered primarily a long format player and finally has rewarded the selectors patience with him in the longer format. Yes, he is sky high on confidence, but does that guarantee success in the shorter formats when pitches are less likely to turn? I doubt it, otherwise India would have Ashwin and Jadeja playing. Best to keep him fresh and focussed on this Summer's Ashes contest. I do like your sentiment for Nathan though. Its nice to see.

The pitches for the ODIs and T20s would definitely be batting-friendly, hence Lyon will not be effective. On the contrary if he gets badly hit by the Indian batsmen his moral will go down considerably before the Ashes.

hello Kersi I think you're making something out of nothing. From the minute Maxwell hit the winning runs in Bangladesh, all Test players, including Lyons, started to focus on the Ashes. NONE of them care one jot about a series of meaningless ODIs and T20s in India. Yes, the players who play in the games will give it their all, but I can guarantee Steve Smith and co would rather be getting ready for the First Test in Brisbane. No doubt the Indian players will care, especially in front of their home crowds, but even they would admit this is a simply a series to make money, with no real meaning attached.

Thank you Anindya for your intelligent comments. Now roll on, the Kohli-Smith saga!

Kersi - I tend to agree with comments here that Lyon would add little to the squad where the wickets for limited overs wont help spin. The fact that India have rested both Ashwin and Jadeja for the series is a sure sign that these wont be dust bowls. On the other hand, I am no fan of Zampa and many here know it. I think he is overrated and will get taken to the cleaners in India. He does have some experience of these wickets from his IPL days, but I don't see him as a weapon. This will be a battle between Warner and Smith at the top of the order versus Bumrah, Shami, Kuldeep and Chahal from the Indian bowling attack. Kohli has a point to prove after his awful Test series against Australia a few months ago, so I will wait to see how he handles his own batting in this series, notwithstanding that its a different format where his recent series averages have been above 100.

It would be interesting to know what the $ amount CA receives for tours like this and also how the pay structure for tours is calculated.