Australian spinner Nathan Lyon said that he has learned a lot from veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin ahead of the first Test of the five-match series in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. While both spinners are the key for their respective teams, Lyon said that Aswin is a great bowler.

“Ash is an incredible bowler,” Lyon told Fox Cricket. “I’ve gone head-to-head with him for basically my whole career, so I’ve learned a lot from Ash. 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.”

However, Nathan Lyon’s praise for Ashwin came as no surprise, given the significant influence R Ashwin has had on his career as well. The veteran Australian player also acknowledged Ashwin as one of his most influential mentors, particularly during his preparations for tours to India as well. Meanwhile, Lyon did offer insight into his approach as well.

“He’s taught me a lot,” Lyon added. “I’m a big believer that the players you compete against are your best coaches. I’ve watched a lot of his footage heading over to India, the way he goes about it here in Australia, and see if I can pick up anything. 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 margin for error is extremely small.”

“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,” Nathan Lyon concluded. “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.”