Lyon invokes 'snake' jibe

Invoking Dale Steyn’s ‘head of the snake’ remark, Nathan Lyon appeared to target Virat Kohli whose failure is being seen as one of India’s biggest concerns in the ongoing series against Australia.

Last year when South Africa toured Australia, Steyn said his team would target the in-from home skipper Steve Smith. “If you can cut off the head of the snake, the rest of the body tends to fall. We've done that in the past. We've tried to attack the captain because he is the leader and if we can cause a bit of chaos there, sometimes it does affect the rest of the guys."  

After dismissing Kohli for another cheap score, Lyon had this to offer: “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 series is a massive series and it’s a long series. We expect him to bounce back. But he is obviously is the head of the snake if you want to put it in Dale Steyn’s terms. So it’s quite pleasing to take Kohli’s wicket,” he remarked.

Kohli got out lbw after offering no shot to Lyon’s delivery, the second time he has got out in this fashion in the series.

“I think it was his mistake in the first game and it was the same today,” stressed Lyon. “That ball was nothing special. But as I said, Virat is a world class player and we expect him to bounce back. We are lucky enough it paid off today and it was a great day for Australia.”