India vs Australia is surely one of the greatest rivalries of cricket, and with Aussies on Indian pitches is always a treat to watch. The Baggy Greens always tour India with new exciting spinners they have in their courtyard, from Shane Warne to Bradd Hogg and Nathan Lyon, this time it was Todd Murphy’s turn to showcase his talent.
Murphy made his debut for Aussies in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2023, he was appreciated by even opposition batters as he dismissed Virat Kohli four times in four Test matches series and bagged 15 scalps. Indian ace off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin now has applauded young leg spinner.
Indian ace off-spinner shares his view on Murphy’s first Indian tour-
“Nathan Lyon did pick up 20 wickets in this series. However, the pressure was built by other spinners too. Todd Murphy had a sensational debut series, You might wonder what is there to talk about Todd Murphy. This is his first tour to India. I remember many spinners,” Ashwin shared his view on his YouTube channel.
The 22-year-old hasn’t played much first-class cricket but was impressive for Australia in the BGT 2023 series. In his debut for visitors in the opening game of the series, he bagged 7 wickets in his debut Test match. In the second test match at Delhi, the young off-spinner stumped Virat Kohli.
High praise from Rahul Dravid for veteran Nathan Lyon, and newcomers Todd Murphy and Matt Kuhnemann #INDvAUS
▶️ https://t.co/cVkX2mMfHU pic.twitter.com/cDdmd3AtMv
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) March 13, 2023
“Nathan Lyon came here first in 2013. He went to Sri Lanka before that. Todd Murphy came here 10 to 50 times better than how Nathan Lyon came here on his first Test tour,” Ashwin said. “I am not saying that he is a better bowler in terms of quality, skill, or performance. I am talking about his capacity and composure to be able to bowl around the stumps and over the stumps,” he further added.
While, Lyon in the Third Test at Indore registered 8/64 in the first innings and became the second most successful overseas bowler in India, with 53 wickets from his 10 games, the 35-year-old later bagged his fourth overall and first 10 wicket haul in India for Aussies in the longer format of the game. Australian ace spinner also finished at the joint second position along with Ravindra Jadeja with his 22 wickets in BGT 2023.
“In the Ahmedabad Test, he [Murphy] bowled most of his overs from over the stumps, Until then, he was bowling around the stumps. But from both around and over, he looked equally comfortable. He was able to attack the stumps while bowling from around the wicket as well as over the wicket,” said ace Indian off-spinner.
At the same time, R. Ashwin finished at the top of the wicket-taker list in the recently concluded Australian Test series with 25 dismissals in four Test matches. He was declared jointly player of the series for his crucial 86 runs and 25 scalps in BGT 2023.
India will take on Australia for the ODI series, starting on 17th March at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Rohit Sharma will not lead in the first game, while Hardik Pandya will be the skipper in the absence of the regular Indian captain.