Selection headache a great problem, reckons Lyon

Sharjah - Captain Aaron Finch has been in the form of his life, while Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb too have stepped up their game in the series.

Headaches are never a good feeling but it is a nice one to have, reckons Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Captain Aaron Finch has been in the form of his life, while Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb too have stepped up their game in the series against India and Pakistan. Add to that, David Warner struck a fluent 85 for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. And off-spinner Lyon said it was great problem to have.
"It is absolutely amazing that our batters are standing up and scoring big runs," said Lyon.
"I was told that Davie (David Warner) scored 85. So, to just see him go out there and score 85, I really hope Davie has a fantastic IPL and thats going to cause massive headaches for our selectors and heading into the World Cup selection. I think it is a great problem to have for Australia," he added.
Lyon was especially happy for Finch, who has been in rollicking form, scoring back to back centuries, and the way he has gone about the captaincy since being appointed last October.
"You just want your teammate to have some success. You see him doing the hard work. As professional cricketers, you are always going to get criticized. That is just someone's opinion and this is the way I look at it: if you got the support of the change room which Aaron certainly does, and you know he's doing the work outside of the game, you know that his turn will come around," he said.
"And it is great to see Finchy cash in. For him to bat the whole innings and chase down 284, and be 153 not out, in my eyes shows a great leader. Hopefully, he can take a lot of confidence out of that and the way he's leading the Australian side going into the World Cup," felt Lyon.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan, was happy to have scored a maiden hundred in the second ODI, but felty that they again came up short in the eight-wicket defeat against the Australians.
"As a batsman, you always feel happy whenever you score a hundred. I usually come late in the order, but today (Sunday) I was a given an opportunity to bat up the order and grabbed the opportunity and scored a hundred," said Rizwan.
"I think we were 15-20 runs short. But we still gave it our best and took Australia right down to the 48th over. I'm sure we can make a good comeback in the next match in Abu Dhabi," added the 26-year-old.
james@khaleejtimes.com