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Australia's champion spinner Nathan Lyon paid tribute to Ravichandran Ashwin by crediting him as one of his biggest coaches. Nearing the 500-wicket mark, the veteran said that he respects Ashwin immensely and has learnt plenty from him.
Lyon and Ashwin have arguably been the best Test bowlers of their era, compiling over 900 wickets together. With Lyon has played more Tests than his Indian counterpart, he's only four short of 500 scalps and could achieve the landmark in the first Test against Pakistan in Perth on December 14.
Speaking to cricket.com.au on Wednesday, the 36-year-old revealed that he has watched Ashwin since the start of his career and learnt a lot from him over the years:
"You look at Ashwin, he's a world-class bowler and somebody I've watched closely from the start of his career. We've gone head-to-head many times in different conditions around the world.
"I've got nothing but respect for Ashwin and the way he's gone about it. There's an opportunity to learn from the people you play against, and without knowing it, he's probably been one of my biggest coaches in a way."
Ashwin notably outbowled his Australian counterpart during the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy. The visiting spinner took 12 wickets in three Tests at 28.83 while Lyon managed only nine scalps in four Tests at over 55 apiece.
"I want to play cricket for as long as I can" - Nathan Lyon
Despite being on the wrong side of 30, Lyon has asserted that he wants to play long enough to achieve series victories in India and England:
"I'm not putting a number on it. I want to play cricket for as long as I can. Haven't won (a Test series) in India, haven't won in England – that's two places that I want to do, so with the injury happening a couple of months ago I feel like there's a passion there to keep going and keep trying to get better.
"I'm feeling really confident, really happy with where everything is at and it's just about going out there and performing now."
Australia are likely to field a full-strength team against Pakistan in Perth, with Lyon leading their spin-attack.
