Perth: Australia’s veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon praised his Indian counterpart Ravichandran Ashwin, calling him an intelligent bowler with a knack for learning and adapting quickly.
The upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy will see the resumption of the battle of off-spinners between Ashwin and Lyon. The duo made their Test debuts in the same year and have comfortably gone past 500-wicket mark in the longer format.
“Ash is an incredible bowler. I’ve gone head-to-head with him for basically my whole career, so I’ve learned a lot from Ash. He’s an incredibly smart bowler, and he’s able to learn and adapt very quickly, and I think the best bowlers in the world are able to do that.”
“He used his skill to benefit himself and his team. So you’ve got to give credit where credit’s due, he was the best bowler (in 2020/21), as he usually is. So hats off to Ash,” said Lyon to Fox Cricket.
He also revealed the learnings he’s taken from seeing Ashwin up and close in action. “He’s taught me a lot. I’m a big believer in the players that you play against are your best coaches that you eventually come across. I’ve watched a lot of his footage heading over to India, the way he goes about it here in Australia, see if I can pick up anything.”
“The way I look at cricket is that I’ve never met anyone who has conquered the game, never played against or with anyone who’s conquered the game. There’s so much to learn in this great game, and there’s so much for me to learn off Ash. He’s a world-class bowler. He’s taken over 500 Test match wickets, and he should be extremely proud of that.”
“I know Jadeja reads all of this stuff, so I can’t really share all my secrets. My big thing is spinning up the back of the ball and getting bounce, but it’s a hard craft to be able to do that in Australia. Your size for error is extremely small.”
Lyon signed off by brushing aside queries on when he or Ashwin will call it quits from the game. “Spin bowling is a craft that the older you get, the better you get with age. There’s definitely no limit for me, and I don’t think there should be a limit for us as well. He’s absolutely world-class, and there’s a series in a couple of years’ time. So who knows?”
–IANS
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