Injured veteran Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon slammed Kevin Pietersen for his shocking comments that he came out to bat so that the Australian team can get a concussion substitute in case he got hit on the head. Lyon emotionally shared that the thought would never come to his mind since one of his mates, Phil Hughes, passed away after he was hit in the head. However, after Australia lost their ninth wicket on Day 4 of the second Ashes 2023 Test at Lord’s on Saturday, July 1, Lyon walked out to bat with injury.

Sharing his views on the same, Kevin Pietersen commented on Sky Sports: “I think [taking] time out of the game and also eking out every single run. [But] Imagine if he [Lyon] had been hit on the head and got concussion, he’d have got a like-for-like replacement and a world class spinner [Todd Murphy] … it gives food for thought.”

Meanwhile, Nathan Lyon was not impressed with this and while speaking at the end of the day’s play, he lashed out at the former England batter.

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“I have heard comments that people thought I went out there to get hit in the head, and I’m really against that because I’ve lost one of my mates due to being hit in the head. So I think that’s a really poor excuse or conversation being had,” he said.

Notably, Nathan Lyon was only a few meters away from Hughes when he was hit by a Sean Abbott bouncer while representing South Australia against New South Wales in a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG on November 25, 2014. Hughes collapsed soon after and never regained consciousness. And, he later passed away in the hospital as well.

While talking about his decision to bat despite the calf injury, Nathan Lyon said that it was tough, but he also added that he wanted to do it for the team as every run matters a lot.

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He explained: “I would have been timed out. The lifts here are pretty slow, so I had to go down the stairs. It was interesting being in the long room rather than the pavilion waiting to bat. It was like being in the zoo, a lot of eyes were on me watching what we were doing, what we were talking about. But I’ll do anything for this team. I knew the risks. But the way I look at it, as I said before, I’ll do anything for this team. You never know how big a 15-run partnership can be in an Ashes series. I’m proud of myself for going out there and doing that.”