The upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy will witness the clash of two off-spinners, who can eventually dictate the outcome of the series. But that is where all the similarities between the two spinners ends, as India’s R. Ashwin and Australia’s Nathan Lyon barely have anything in common. While one has achieved tremendous success and written the record books, the other is yet to prove his match winning skills in the subcontinent.
You definitely don’t need to further elaborate on which spinners fits in the apt description above! Lyon previously toured India in that otherwise ill-fated tour of 2013 for the Kangaroos and began the series with a proper beating at Chennai. Indian skipper MS Dhoni, en route to his highest Test score of 224 was severe towards Lyon and whacked him to all parts of the ground.
Ahead of this series however, Lyon has expressed his willingness to learn from his Indian counterpart.
“I’ve watched a lot of Ashwin,” said Lyon on the sidelines of a practice session. “Obviously he’s the number one bowler in the world and there’s a reason for that. “He’s playing over in these conditions a lot, so I’ve spent a lot of time studying how he goes about it, so hopefully I can keep learning from him and watch him closely and try and put a few things into place.”
Lyon added that in order to enhance the efficiency of his bowling, he would alter his action slightly.
“I’m not changing my whole action, I’ll give you that little tip,” Lyon said. “But there’s little things I’m trying to work on. “Some things are going really well and some things aren’t. “But I’m feeling really confident and I’m looking forward to the challenge that lies ahead.”
“There’s a big chance I might take the new ball, but that’s totally up to the captain,” Lyon said about what could be an innovative move. “I’ll be warming up, put it that way. “The new ball, the harder it is – it may skid on, it may turn, it might bounce or it might not. “There’s a few different options and if I don’t know if they’re going to bounce then neither does Virat. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
