The five-Test series between India and Australia for the prized Border-Gavaskar Trophy is still over a couple of months away, but Yashasvi Jaiswal seems to have gotten inside the head of the Aussie bowlers already. Jaiswal has been a bit of a revelation for India in Tests, enjoying a record-breaking series against England earlier this year which saw him score 712 runs including two double-centuries. Jaiswal is yet to play a Test against Australia, but in the last year has shown enough pedigree to tackle whatever it is that the oppositions throws at him. Rohit Sharma is back, as is Virat Kohli; Shubman Gill seems to be having a ball at No. 3 while KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan will jostle for the No. 5 spot in the XI. Add to that the return of Rishabh Pant – Australia's tormentor from the last series – and this Indian batting order is hard to roll over.

Australian bowlers know they need to be at their absolute best and then some, to stop this Indian juggernaut and avoid a hat-trick of series defeats. Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are proven performers, and even though Australian pitches are tailor-made for fast bowlers, their reliance will fall equally on the shoulders of Nathan Lyon. Gazza, as he is fondly called, loves bowling against India as his record of 116 wickets from 26 Tests prove, but even the great Lyon is having sleepless nights thanks to Jaiswal.

During a chat on the LiSTNR Sport podcast, former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin asked Lyon to name an Indian player who 'keeps him up at night'. And while the expectation would have been either Rohit, Kohli, or Pant, all three of whom Lyon had previously name-dropped, the Australian off-spinner's pick was the 22-year-old Jaiswal.

"There's a lot of thought going into it. Obviously, I have come across the majority of them, but Jaiswal is someone I haven't. I had a couple of good chats with Tom Hartley [of England] just about how we went about it. I know we are totally different spinners but when Jaiswal went after him, that's something I can pick up from him and hopefully put that into play. Just watching the whole lot – Sarfaraz coming out. Will he be in there or will it be Rahul? I don't know. They are full of superstars. It's pretty special," Lyon said.

Hartley, the left-arm spinner, was the second-highest wicket-taker of the five-Test series earlier this year, finishing with 22 scalps, four behind Ravichandran Ashwin's tally of 26. Hartley dismissed Jaiswal only once, but the left-handed explosive opener did get out to Joe Root and Shoaib Bashir twice each in the series, both of whom are right-arm off-break bowlers like Lyon.

Lyon on how Australia can win the Test series

For the first time in decades, India start favourites for a Test series in Australia. They are obviously buoyed by the fact that the last two times they toured Australia, India emerged victorious 2-1. Lyon is aware of the bigger picture: To bring the Border-Gavaskar Trophy back to Australian shores after 10 long years. And for that, he reckons Australia need lots and lots of runs from their top order.

"We need big runs, and we need the guys who are talented enough to get hundreds – Smith, Marnus, Head and the entire top order. We don't want 100, or 101. We want 180-200. That makes up for if I have a day off. That goes a long way into winning a Test match but overall, it's going to be good cricket. The pitches will offer a good contest between bat and ball," Lyon pointed out.

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