Nathan Lyon and Ravichandran Ashwin are in a close race to see who enters the 500 wickets club first. The Australian spinner, who has the opportunity to do so first, heaped praise on his Indian counterpart, terming him as ‘one of the biggest coaches’ in his life. Lyon currently has 496 wickets and is just four short away of joining the league of legends including Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne.
Lyon heaps praise on ‘coach’ Ashwin
Speaking to cricket.com.au ahead of the first PAK vs AUS Test, the Aussie spinner revealed how he sees Ashwin as an inspiration more than a rival. Heaping praise on the Indian spinner, Lyon called Ash a ‘world class bowler’ whom he had watched closely and learnt a lot from.
“You look at Ashwin, he’s a world-class bowler and somebody I’ve watched closely from the start of his career,” Lyon said ahead of his return to Test cricket after suffering a serious calf injury at Lord’s last June.
“We’ve gone head-to-head many times in different conditions around the world.
“I’ve got nothing but respect for Ashwin and the way he’s gone about it. I’ve definitely learned from him.
“There’s an opportunity to learn from the people you play against, and without knowing it he’s probably been one of my biggest coaches in a way.
“It’s pretty amazing to see we’re both creeping up to that 500 mark, and we’ll see where we end up. Hopefully at the end of our career we’ll sit down and have a nice feed and a beer and talk about it.”
Will he finish above Warne? Lyon responds
However, Lyon refused to comment on the wicket tally he would finish his career with. The spinner did not want opine into whether he was targeting Warne’s record as Australia’s best Test bowler. He also revealed that he intends to win Test series in England and India.
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