Nathan Lyon: Rival Bowlers Serve as 'Best Coaches', Credits Ashwin for His Growth

Veteran Australian spinner Nathan Lyon believes that rival players often serve as the "best coaches", acknowledging that his Indian counterpart Ravichandran Ashwin has "taught" him a great deal through their faceoffs since 2011-12.

Having made their Test debuts in the same year, Lyon and Ashwin will face each other for the eighth time in the longest format during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy five-Test series beginning in Perth on November 22.

"Ash (Ashwin) 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," Lyon told Fox Cricket.

"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 skills 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."

It will be Ashwin's fifth Test tour of Australia, where he has claimed 39 wickets in 10 Tests at an average of 42.15.

Lyon further admitted to having studied Ashwin's bowling closely, especially before Australia toured India in the last few years.

"He’s taught me a lot,” Lyon said. “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 from Ash. He’s a world-class bowler. He’s taken over 500 Test match wickets, and he should be extremely proud of that."

Ashwin (21.76) outshines Lyon (30.81) in terms of having the best Test bowling average in Asia. However, the Australian has better bowling figures outside Asia — Lyon: 30.09, Ashwin: 33.14.

Asked if they could face again post this tour, Lyon reckoned, “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?"

Asked about the secret of his success on non-spinning tracks, Lyon quipped: "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,” he said.

They may not have won a Test series against India in nearly a decade, but Lyon feels their World Test Championship final triumph last year would give them the edge.

"India’s got the wood over us in the past few series, but if you’re looking at the World Test Championship (final) in England, we were able to beat them there, and I know that should give us a bit of confidence heading into (this summer)," Lyon said.

"We understand that we’re coming up against a world-class side, but we can take a lot of confidence out of where we are at as an Australian cricket team."

"I feel like we’re on the journey to becoming a great team. We’re not there yet. There’s a bit of work to do, but we have the opportunity to do something pretty special this summer."

India are reeling from an unprecedented 0-3 home defeat against New Zealand, a result Lyon believes will make the second-ranked team even more determined.

“I think they’re extremely dangerous. They’re a class outfit, and they know their best preparation and how to come out here and perform. It’s going to be a cracking Test series.”

"It’s been a long ten years since Australia’s held the trophy. There’s only a few of us that would probably be in the squad that’s actually held the trophy, so it’s time to bring it home," he concluded.

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