Ravichandran Ashwin is more of an attacking option than Nathan Lyon, reckons Brad Hogg
Ravichandran Ashwin has 427 wickets from 81 Tests
|Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg has drawn a comparison between Ravichandran Ashwin and Nathan Lyon, and stated that the Indian off-spinner is more of an attacking option for his team than the Australian. Hogg further added that Ashwin has always been a wicket-taking option for his team.
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.
Ravichandran Ashwin, on the other hand, has been a frontline spinner for India over the years in all three formats. He has 61 wickets from 51 T20Is, 150 wickets from 111 ODIs and 427 wickets from 81 Test matches. Ashwin has variations like carrom ball, top-spin and slider, while Lyon believes more in his traditional off-spin deliveries.
Meanwhile, former Australia left-arm wrist-spinner Brad Hogg has drawn a comparison between both the spinners, and stated theat Ashwin's variation in bowling makes him more effective.
"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."
Speaking about the roles of both the bowlers in their respective national teams, Hogg said that Ashwin is used as a wicket-taking option by India while Lyon is used as an option to hold up one end, and allow the pacers to take a rest from their spell.
"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).
