Australia’s veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon said some of his team members were surprised at the reaction of Indian team members to avoiding the follow-up on the fourth day of the third Test at the Gabba. At the Gabba, the last-wicket partnership between Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep helped India avoid second down and avert a possible innings defeat. As soon as Akash got a strong outside edge over gully for four against Pat Cummins, it triggered jubilant reactions and high-fives from captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir and talismanic batsman Virat Kohli.

“Some of us have talked about how surprised we are at their reaction. We played well and got the game to where we are. Frustrating, but we’re still sitting 185 at the front of the locker room. I still feel if we bat well we can push for an Australian win.”

“We can’t control the weather. What we can control is our process. He was particularly excellent against Jasprit Bumrah in this series. (India’s reaction) It looked like their top order didn’t want to bat if we forced the succession. With Josh out, it was quite a challenge to get the extra game through,” Lyon told Fox Sports during the rain break on matchday five.

With only 196 overs bowled so far in the Test, Lyon complained that the weather was disrupting the game, particularly after losing Hazlewood to a calf strain. “It’s really frustrating. It was the trend of the week. I still feel like we still have a lot of cricket left in the game. We just need the weather to go away.”

“Mitch and Pat, they have been great for Australia for a number of years and I feel very privileged to be part of this Australian bowling attack. Your work ethic is excellent. We pride ourselves on our fielding and we did that by watching the Australian boys in front of us.”

Lyon also expressed his opinion on India having used three different spinners in the series so far and added that he would like to see Ravichandran Ashwin play in the final two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney respectively.

“That’s an interesting question. There’s someone sitting (on the bench) with over 530 Test wickets and I go down and scratch my head and say, ‘What are you doing?’ He has proven that he is one of the world’s best spin bowlers to ever play the game. I expect Ash to play in Melbourne and Sydney.”

“(It) more than surprises me. This is the quality of Indian cricketers they have in their squad. You have Ashwin with over 530 wickets (536) and then Jadeja with over 300 wickets (319). It’s quite remarkable to see the quality of players on the bench. It’s a good thing to have a headache.”

“Nothing but respect. Just the way Ash has carried himself on and off the field for the past few years and his skills are incredible. We have different opinions on different things, there is no right or wrong.”

“But to have these conversations with a bowler like Ashwin is amazing. From different variations to different tactics to understand what he’s trying to do. We are both very different. So our conversation this morning was great and I hope we have more of it as the series progresses and in the future.”

Lyon, who made his Test debut in 2011, signed off by revealing the message he gave himself before his first game for Australia. “Trust yourself. I was very lucky to be in the team I came into, with Michael Clarke as captain and a lot of great players in and around that team, and to have that support.”