'Era-defining': Why Nathan Lyon is relishing the challenges ahead of Australia

The Australian team has arrived in Nagpur ahead of the first Test in their bid to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which has been held by India since the summer of 2016-17.

Not since 2004 has Australia won a Test series in India, a time when Michael Clarke was a blonde-tipped batter scoring a century on debut and claiming 6-9 in the final match.

But Lyon is confident today's iteration of the Australian team can pull off the Test side's first triumph in India in almost two decades before they set their sights on a maiden world Test championship and an Ashes series later this year.

Australia have held the Ashes urn since the summer of 2017-18, drawing a series in England and winning another on home soil since. But you have to go back to 2001 for Australia's last Ashes series win in England - another drought Lyon is desperate to break.

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For a team boasting Australia's third leading wicket-taker of all time in Lyon, two of its greatest batters in Steve Smith and David Warner, as well as elite quicks Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, this year could be the finest in their legacy.

"Mate, this is the pinnacle for Australian cricket at the moment over the next six months. It's potentially an era-defining couple of tours for the Test team we've got here at the moment so it doesn't get any bigger," Lyon said.

"We've got all areas, in my eyes, ticked off. Especially in the spin department, we've got finger spin and wrist spin. Depending on which way the selectors want to go, I feel like we're really confident and in a really good space, especially off the back of the training we've been able to have here in our preparation at Bangalore.

"We're feeling really good, but we've just got to do the basics really well for a long period of time and hopefully put the Indian guys under some pressure."

Sounds boring, doesn't it?

But there's a reason Lyon, who has just been named in Cricket ACT's team of the century, doesn't try to reinvent the wheel.

It was 2016. The Warne-Muralitharan Trophy was in Sri Lanka's hands following a 3-0 sweep of the touring Australians. Lyon, who had taken 17 wickets to Rangana Herath's 28, wanted to know the difference between himself and the man named player of the series.

No big difference, Herath said, but "all I know is I need to bowl five or six balls in one spot and you guys will stuff up".

Batters would never let Lyon settle, so he will leave any sense of an ego in the change room when he takes the ball in Nagpur this week with one simple message ringing in his ears - and those of Australia's remaining spinners Ashton Agar, Mitchell Swepson, and potential debutant Todd Murphy.

"Focus on bowling my best ball and not getting carried away with this part of the world or anything like that," Lyon said.

"It's just about having belief in my stock ball, which I've got, so I'll try to keep it all pretty simple to be honest, and enjoy the challenge. I've been here before, we know what works and what doesn't work. We've got to try to keep it as simple as possible and try to help out where I can with the younger spinners.

"All we need to do is make sure we go out there and perform, and understand what a successful day looks like for every single one of us, because we're so different, all four of us. If we understand that, then hopefully we're in a decent position."

Then comes an Ashes series which transcends any other game of cricket.

"It's unbelievable, to be honest with you," Lyon said.

"That's all part of the game now, the amount of attention that comes with everything you do, and there's another factor in that with the Ashes and the emotion around it, the history that has been before us."

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