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Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali called experienced spinner Nathan Lyon's comment about Australia winning the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series against India by 5-0 "stupid". On Tuesday, Lyon on the Willow Talk podcast answered a question by former Australian cricketer Brad Haddin and said, "My prediction is 5-0 to Australia." Basit slammed Lyon and stated that such remarks should not come from a cricketer. He even urged Ravichandran Ashwin to reply back to Lyon's comment. "I will only say one thing about Nathan Lyon's stupid statement that Australia will defeat India by six Tests, but only by words. In the past two series, India have dominated Australia. Such comments don't suit cricketers. Ricky Ponting or former cricketers can make such statements. I request Ashwin to reply back and say that India will defeat Australia by 5-0," Basit said on YouTube.
Even though the BGT series is in November, players have started expressing their excitement about the highly- anticipated clash.
While Lyon believes that Australia will cruise to a series victory, his compatriot, Travis Head, recently said that the Rohit Sharma-led side is "extremely difficult" to play.
Speaking to Star Sports, Head said that he doesn't "feel" India are his favourite since the Aussies played against them enough. The 30-year-old added that in the last few years, he has been in nice form and was happy to contribute to the team.
"I don't feel like they're my favourite. I just feel like we play them enough, play them lots. And, I guess, the last couple of years, I've been in nice form. So yeah, being able to play well, it's always nice. It's not hard to get up for the contest. It's hugely competitive. Yeah, it's easier to get up for the game. So I wouldn't say they're my favourites," Head said.
"They're extremely difficult, but it's been nice to play well in a couple of games, and I'm looking forward to preparing well and being ready to go, and hopefully, I can contribute to what's a successful summer for us," he added.
The Border-Gavaskar series between India and Australia will begin on November 22, with the first Test at Perth.