Australia reckon Nathan Lyon's sore finger will be benefited by the long break

The Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon had a tremendous outing in the first innings of the second Test against India at Bangalore as he notched up his career best figures of 50/8. He utilized the assisting conditions outside the off-stump of the right-handers and dismantled the Indian batting line-up single-handedly.

But he was troubled by an injury to his spinning finger in the second innings. The cracked callus of his index finger broke his rhythm and he failed to pick up a single wicket giving away 82 runs. His inability to bag wickets allowed India run away with the game and set up a decent target for Australia to chase which ultimately proved to be more than enough.

Australia’s bowling coach David Saker also admitted that the sore finger affected Lyon’s performances in the second innings. He said, “There’s no doubt it impacted the way he bowled, but that’s a part of the game. Fast bowlers bowl with bad toes and backs, spin bowlers over time have gone through some finger issues.”

“You probably have to deal with it as best you can, but there’s no doubt it affects a lot of bowlers. Just those little niggles, always affect people”, he added.

The Australians have taken four days off from the game and their next practice session will take place on Sunday. They have plenty of time to recover from the loss and refresh their minds with a pre-arranged schedule.

“They probably pulled up a little bit sorer than the first Test,” Saker said. They’ll have four days off and then they’ll bowl”, Saker said.

Lyon has picked up 13 wickets in 2 Tests so far and has been their major weapon in the series so far. With the unfortunate injury to Mitchell Starc, it’s now even more important for him to regain full fitness as he would once again be expected to lead the attack and enforce an Australian comeback in the remaining two Tests at Ranchi and Dharamsala respectively.