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. (More Cricket News)
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.
"He라이브 바카라 an incredibly smart bowler, and he라이브 바카라 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 credit라이브 바카라 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.
"He라이브 바카라 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 who라이브 바카라 conquered the game.
"There라이브 바카라 so much to learn in this great game, and there라이브 바카라 so much for me to learn from Ash. He라이브 바카라 a world-class bowler. He라이브 바카라 taken over 500 Test match wickets, and he should be extremely proud of that."
Ashwin outshines Lyon in terms of having the best bowling average outside Asia, with the former averaging 33.14 compared to the latter's 30.09.
However, the Australian averages better in Asia than the Indian -- Lyon: 30.81, Ashwin: 21.76.
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.
"There라이브 바카라 definitely no limit for me, and I don’t think there should be a limit for us as well. He라이브 바카라 absolutely world-class, and there라이브 바카라 a series in a couple of years’ time. So, who knows?"
Asked 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 it라이브 바카라 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.
"India라이브 바카라 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. There라이브 바카라 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. It라이브 바카라 going to be a cracking Test series.
"It라이브 바카라 been a long ten years since Australia라이브 바카라 held the trophy. There라이브 바카라 only a few of us that would probably be in the squad that라이브 바카라 actually held the trophy, so it라이브 바카라 time to bring it home," he concluded.
