The spinner said the COVID-19 break has "driven his love for the game".
As Nathan Lyon is all set to play his 100th Test for his country Australia in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India, the veteran spinner is aiming to go beyond 500 wickets in the traditional format of the game.
The 33-year-old off-spinner is already the third-highest Australian wicket-taker after legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne (708 in 145 Tests) and fast bowler Glenn McGrath (563 wickets in 124 Tests) with 390 wickets from 96 Tests so far in Baggy Green.
Lyon is just four games short of playing 100 Tests and the upcoming four-match home Test series against India will be more special for the seasoned cricketer as he will become only the 10th player in the history of Australian cricket to reach 100 Tests in the final Test in Brisbane in January 2021.
He hasn’t played a Test since January 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down cricket across the globe and Australia’s premium spinner said the break has made him hungrier to perform and rekindled his desire to go beyond 500 wickets in the five-day format of the game.
Lyon told Fox Sports, “I still feel I’m getting better and still feel like I’ve got a lot of cricket to offer Cricket Australia. Definitely, 500 and beyond is on my radar. Probably it’s (break) driven my love for the game.”
He concluded, “Without being able to play the game that you love so much and not being able to play that regularly that’s driven my passion to get out there and that hunger to perform well again. The most I’ve missed is that pressure that comes along with playing Test cricket. Missing that adrenaline.”
Noteworthy, Australia and India will play three ODIs from 27th of November followed by three T20Is with the four-match Test series starting on 17 December in Adelaide.