Australia vs Pakistan: Set to climb Mount 500, Nathan Lyon opens up about retirement talks
Australia’s legendary off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who is set to make a comeback to the Test side after an injury lay-off, opened up about his retirement plans. Australia is set to host Pakistan for a 2-match Test series, starting December 14, Thursday. The seasoned off-spinner stands on the cusp of a monumental achievement of 500 Test wickets. With 496 wickets already to his name, Lyon is just four scalps away from joining the elite club of bowlers who are part of the list. Lyon is not only Australia’s mainstay in red-ball cricket, but also stands as their most successful Test off-spinner.
The 1st Test match will be played in Perth, which is also Lyon’s home ground, and achieving the milestone in front of his home crowd will definitely add to the excitement. Lyon is set to become the 8th bowler to take 500 Test wickets and will be the 4th spinner after Muttiah Murlitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble.
At 36, Lyon expressed his desire to play cricket for Australia till he wins a Test series in India and England. Speaking to Cricket Australia and expressed his desire to continue playing international cricket, potentially until Australia’s next Ashes tour to England in 2027. Lyon said he has full faith in his fitness and that he doesn’t intend to attach an end date or an expected wicket tally to his remaining career ambitions.
“I’m not putting a number on it,” he said when asked if he was targeting Warne’s record as Australia’s greatest-ever Test bowler. I want to play cricket for as long as I can,” Lyon said.
Lyon is keen on winning Test series in India and England before putting curtains on his celebrated Test career.
“I haven’t won a Test series in India, haven’t won in England – those are two places that I want to do, so with the injury happening a couple of months ago, I feel like there’s a passion there to keep going and keep trying to get better. I’ve had the mentality to try and rehab this like no-one’s rehabbed a calf injury before,” Lyon said.
Lyon has produced remarkable performances on the Indian pitches. His best figures in Test cricket came against India in Bengaluru in 2017, where he recorded an impressive 8/50. He also became the first Australian player to take 100 wickets in the Border-Gavasker trophy in the 2023 BGT series.
The off-spinner suffered a calf-injury midway through the Ashes, earlier this year but recovered well in time to be ready for Australia’s home summer.
