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#INDvAUS: From watching Ashwin videos to talking to Herath, how Lyon 'eight' India up

The Australian off-spinner has finally found ingredients of success in the sub-continent and his 8 for 50 to dismantle India is proof.

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Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon celebrates the wicket of India captain Virat Kohli on Day 1 of the second Test at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday
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Nathan Lyon isn't your typical modern-day off-spinner. He doesn't have a complicated action, he doesn't bowl a doosra, he doesn't possess a mystery ball.

The classical, old-school Australian offie, though, makes up for his lack of mystery with mastery.

Lyon had tasted a fair bit of success in home conditions but wasn't scripting victories for his team where he was supposed to and where he was expected to: on helpful sub-continental conditions.

In his previous tour to Asia, which was to Sri Lanka last year, Lyon picked up 16 wickets in three games, but at a strike rate of 57.75 and an economy rate of over three.

He wasn't bowling enough wicket-taking balls on a consistent basis, enough balls on a good length in an over. More worryingly for the Aussies, he wasn't running through batting line-ups.

Not anymore.

On Saturday, Lyon bowled 16 overs on the trot in his first spell, crafting down ball after ball on that area of uncertainty outside the right-hander. Once the length was sorted, he was getting enough over-spin on the ball to extract the extra bounce that this wicket had compared to the Pune one.

Consistency, length, over-spin: everything was falling into place perfectly.

The result? Three crucial wickets – Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane — in that first spell followed by five in the next to clean up India's lower order and run through their batting unit.

It's a sharp turn – pun intended – from Sri Lanka, and one that Lyon has worked incredibly hard for.

"After the tour of Sri Lanka, I went home and reflected on my performance there," Lyon said after the day's play on Saturday. "I worked very, very hard in the lead up to the BBL (Big Bash League) games. I was going down to the matches two hours before and bowling in the nets. John Davison (Australia's spin coach) and Darren Berry (head coach of South Australia) worked on my strengths. I studied what Ashwin does. He is one of the best spinners in the world," he added.

Other than watching videos of the Indian offie, Lyon went up to Rangana Herath, who took 28 Australian wickets in last year's series, and realised that the trick of bowling in these conditions didn't lie in spinning the ball, but in keeping the ball in one area throughout.

"You look at Rangana Herath, one of the best spinners in the world, and what does he does: he hits the same spot over and over again. He said to me after the series in Sri Lanka, 'I don't know if they're going to spin either'.

So, I'm working on the same plan as Rangana," the 29-year-old said.

Homework done, it was time to execute in India. He knew this was the biggest challenge of his career, he knew he couldn't fail to deliver again, he knew he had to roar. With 13 wickets in three innings so far, he sure has.

"It's pretty easy to get yourself up against the best players of spin. I like to challenge myself against the best players and I love to play well against the best players and prove to myself. I don't need to prove to anyone else in the world. I just want to prove myself that I am good enough and I can compete hard," Lyon said.

Proved he did. Not with five or six or seven, but with eight wickets, the best figures by any foreign bowler in India.

"I was the lucky one on the day I guess," he said.

Not that he was done for the day, though.

"I don't think it's hit me because for the last hour I was padded up as nightwatchman. This is actually the first time I've smiled," he said.

Lyon pleased to remove 'head of the snake'

Of his eight wickets, Nathan Lyon was particularly pleased with the dismissal of Virat Kohli, getting the India captain trapped without him offering a shot. "You want to compete against the best and he is one of the best players of the world. To take his wicket today was exceptional but we know this is a massive series and it's a long series. We expect him to bounce back. But he is the head of the snake, if you want to put it in Dale Steyn's terms. If you take that off, the whole body will fall, that's what Dale said. So, it's quite pleasing to take Kohli's wicket."

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