'Watched a lot of footage of Ashwin on the laptop, driving my wife mad': Lyon expresses his obsession with this Indian spinner

Ravichandran Ashwin is unarguably India’s second-greatest test bowler of all time. With 457 wickets and counting, Ashwin is now the second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. With each and every match, his series of records continues to grow even more. Against Australia in the 1st Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy held in Nagpur marked the 31st five-wicket haul of his Test career. He finished with 5 wickets giving away only 37 runs to hand over India an innings victory. With this, he levelled Anil Kumble’s record for the most five-fors and overtaken Harbhajan Singh’s. 

The Aussies were always in fear of Ashwin, not just the batters but even the bowlers. Nathan Lyon is the only player who can be compared to Ashwin in terms of modern-day spin greats. There have been constant heated conversations on who can touch the Test records of legendary bowlers like Shane Warne and Muttiah Murlitharan. It is too far thought for that of Ashwin or Lyon to reach that stage, but they are the most favourite ones to reach the pinnacle. While giving an interview, Lyon spoke about his obsession with Ashwin’s bowling, revealing his research on the Indian spinner before landing in India for the Border Gavaskar Test Series. He considers his study of Ashwin as a part of his learning process to get better and better at every point. 

"I'm not going to pin myself against Ash. I think the way Ashwin has gone about it has been remarkable and his record speaks for itself. To be honest, I am a totally different bowler from Ash. Have I sat down and watched a lot of footage of Ashwin before coming over here? Yes, 100 per cent. I've spent a lot of time sitting at home in front of the laptop, driving my wife mad. It's all about learning. The best thing about this game is that we are constantly learning, trying to grow and get better by watching your opposition and that's one of the biggest learning curves," Lyon stated.

The Aussie off-spinner, who has 461 wickets under his belt, which is four more than Ashwin in the wicket tally expressed how the 36-year-old has not shied away from sharing valuable tips at times. Lyon also appreciates the fellow Indian spinner on his bag full of tricks which he himself lacks but doesn’t mind picking a few tricks himself. 

"There's a lot of talks. Lots he has taught me about. Sitting down and speaking to him, there's been a lot that he's taught me and that's just not for here but even in Australia. There are a couple of skill sets that Ash has that I would like to develop. That's why I feel like I can still get better. So that's what's driving me," Lyon added.