Ravichandran Ashwin is more of an attacking option than Nathan Lyon, reckons Brad Hogg

Ravichandran Ashwin and Nathan Lyon are considered as the top red-ball spinners at present in world cricket, and both bowlers have been part of the sport for almost a decade now. Lyon made his debut in international cricket against Sri Lanka in 2011, and has so far played two T20Is and 29 ODIs , scalping one and 29 wickets respectively. However, the off-spinner has been very impressive in the red-ball format for Australia, having bagged 403 wickets from 101 Test matches.

"Ashwin has got some other deliveries into his armory, which makes him more of an attacking option than Nathan Lyon,” Hogg said on his YouTube channel. “He has got the cannon ball, where he rolls his fingers down the seam. He also has got the carrom ball, where he flicks the seam with his middle finger. That's the one that turns the other way. He has got more variations as well to bamboozle the batsmen."

"Both players are slightly different in their roles within the team. Ashwin is used more as a wicket-taking option whereas Lyon usually holds up one end to bowl as many overs as he can to allow the fast bowlers in the Australian team to have a rest. That's why opposition teams should go after Lyon, making the Australian captain go to his fast bowlers more often,” Hogg explained. 

In the first Ashes Test in Brisbane last week, Lyon became only the third Australian to 400 Test wickets after Shane Warne (708) and Glenn McGrath (563), while Ashwin surpassed Harbhajan Singh in the recent home series against New Zealand, to become India's third highest wicket-taker in Tests after Anil Kumble (619) and Kapil Dev (434).