5 reasons why Nathan Lyon is at par with R Ashwin

With 22 wickets in two Tests, Nathan Lyon played the architect's role to ensure Australia drew the Test series with Bangladesh. In four innings, Lyon produced three five wicket hauls and stamped his identity as Australia's lead spinner.

This performance in Bangladesh has highlighted the improvement in Lyon's bowling and he has become a spinner for all conditions.

Unfortunately, the Australian spinner rarely comes in the limelight and his achievements go unnoticed. He is a highly underrated bowler in world cricket.

The Aussie off-spinner's sterling performances have pushed him to the top and currently, he is as good as R Ashwin, arguably the best off-spinner of this era.Here are five reasons that prove that Lyon is at par with R Ashwin.

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#5. Overall statistics

Lyon has been a part of Australia's Test unit since 2011. He is one of the many spinners which Australia experimented with in the post-Warne era and now it seems that with his emergence, this experimentation finally has come to an end.

So far, the off-spinner has featured in 69 Tests and has 269 wickets under his belt. In the spin department, only Warne has more wickets for Australia in Tests. Lyon's average of 31.83 may not look that impressive but he has played most of his cricket in conditions that are not spin friendly (17 Tests in Asia).

Also, his strike rate of 60.8 is very effective. His strike rate is similar to other successful non-Asian spinners such as G Swann (60.1), Warne (57.4) and Jim Laker (62.3). Interestingly, Rnagana Herath, one of the best spinners of this generation has a strike rate of 60.3.

The Aussie spinner has 12 five-wicket hauls and two ten-wicket hauls in Test cricket and these numbers speak highly about his abilities and skills. These overall statistics slot Lyon among the top spinners in the international cricket and the fact that he plays most of his cricket on unhelpful surfaces makes him one of the best.

#4. Variations, skills, and fitness

A spinner mostly bowls long spells and hence has to be physically fit. The mere act of coming to the crease and bowling over after over takes a massive toll on fingers. Hence, spinners must possess powerful fingers and arms along with a strong body.

At Ranchi in 2017 against India, Lyon bowled 46 overs in one inning. This task was so daunting that he developed a blister on his bowling finger but in the next Test at Dharamshala, the offie bowled 34 overs in the first inning and grabbed five wickets.

In the recent Test series against Bangladesh, he bowled more than 30 overs in every innings, which reflects his endurance and physical stamina.

Along with his stamina, Lyon has also proved that he has all necessary skills present in his repertoire. He excels in the traditional art of off-spin bowling which is setting the batsman up with tight line and lengths and has impeccable control over his pace.

In the Chittagong Test, he altered his line and lengths smartly in the first and the second innings to extract maximum bite from the surface. The Aussie bowler has proved that he can operate with the new ball and bowling in the first day or the fifth day makes no impact on his effectiveness.

For a spinner, the key to success is mastery over variations. R Ashwin sits at the top of the table because of his smart use of variations. Lyon too has emerged as a spinner with complete command over variations.

His biggest asset is the dip he generates. The right-arm bowler gives more revs to the ball and hence the ball dips on to the batsman forcing them to make errors. Also, his subtle pace variations and changes in lengths are impressive.

#3. Performance against the best

The Asian batsmen are considered to be the best players of spin. Lyon's stunning performances against the Asian batsmen reflect his greatness.

The off-spinner took 22 wickets in two Tests against Bangladesh and grabbed 19 wickets against India earlier this year. In both these series, in eleven innings he produced five five-wicket hauls.

He has 64 wickets against India in Tests, the second highest by any spinner and his strike rate of 57.2 is highly effective. These numbers suggest the impact he has made against the best sides in the world.

In the recent years, Bangladesh's rise in Tests has been phenomenal and they have pulverized most of the overseas teams that toured them. Batting is one area where the Bangla tigers have completely dominated their opponents and overseas spinners have returned home with little or no success.

England's Adil Rashid paid close to thirty runs for his every wicket and leaked runs at 3.81 runs per over. Mitchel Santer, the promising spinner from New Zealand took a wicket every 17 overs while Simon Harmer from South Africa picked a wicket every 20 overs.

Lyon, on the contrary, has been on the top against Bangladesh and averages a mere 14.31 and grabs a wicket every seven overs.

#2. Significant improvement

Until 2015, Lyon played eight Tests in India Asia and had a poor strike rate of 76.6. For each of his 26 wickets, he paid 49.11 runs. But courtesy of massive transformation in 2015, the off-spinner since then has produced 57 wickets in nine Tests at an average of 22.91 and strike rate of 47.8.

In 2017, he has taken 46 wickets in Tests, the highest by any bowler across the globe. In this year, he has picked a wicket every eighth over and has paid only 21.95 runs per wicket.

Lyon emerged in international cricket as an effective bowler in an off-spinner's mould but had a limited use. He was most often the fourth-bowler in the team, specifically used to improve the over rate and to keep things quiet when the pacers relaxed or waited for the new ball.

Currently, however, he is one of the frontline bowlers for Australia and has created enough faith in the captain to get selected over a pacer. This sterling improvement is what makes Lyon a world class bowler and he one of the very few off spinners who are at par with Ashwin.

#1. Stepped up when team needed him most

One of the key reason's for Ashwin's rise to the top is his ability to rise to the occasion. The off-spinner stepped up whenever the team demanded and has delivered. The same is the case with Lyon, who has upped the ante during any crisis situation his team has been in.

After tasting a defeat in the first Test, Australia roped in the third spinner in the playing eleven in the second Test against Bangladesh. For this, they had to sacrifice on the services on the second seamer which meant Lyon had to share the new ball.

The right-arm bowler accepted the challenge and finished the inning with seven wickets. Earlier in the year, he grabbed eight wickets on the first day of the Bengaluru Test in conditions that didn't assist turn and against batsmen who are quality players of spin.

His performances in the third and the fourth innings, when the role of the spinner becomes decisive have been impressive as well. In 2017, averages a mere 18.50 in the third and the fourth innings and concedes 2.45 runs per over, the least he has given in any inning.