Why Nathan Lyon’s obsession with Ravichandran Ashwin drove wife ‘mad’ | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: Australia did everything to tackle India’s spin attack on a turning Nagpur track in the opening Test but it was all in vain. The Pat Cummins led side also turned to Maheesh Pithiya, an Indian spinner with an action similar to Ashwin’s, in the nets, but that didn’t work as such for them either.
Australia lost the match by a huge margin – an innings and 132 runs – with Indian spinners taking 16 out of 20 Australian wickets in the match. Ashwin picked up three wickets in the first innings and then claimed a five-for in the second and took his overall tally to 457 wickets in Tests.

Australia spinner Nathan Lyon, in a conversation with Star Sports, revealed that he had been studying Ashwin a lot ahead of the Test series. He watched his bowling videos and some match-winning spells. In fact he watched these videos so much that it irked his wife.
“I’m not going to pin myself against Ash. I think the way Ashwin has gone about it has been remarkable and his record speaks for itself,” Lyon said.

“To be honest, I am a totally different bowler to Ash. Have I sat down and watched a lot of footage of Ashwin before coming over here? Yes, 100 percent. I’ve spent a lot of time sitting at home in front of the laptop, driving my wife mad. It’s all about learning. The best thing about this game is that we are constantly learning, trying to grow and get better by watching your opposition and that’s one of the biggest learning curves,” Lyon said.
“There’s a lot of talk. Lots he (Ashwin) has taught me about. Sitting down and speaking to him, there’s been a lot that he’s taught me and that’s just not for here but even in Australia. There’s a couple of skill-sets that Ash has which I would like to develop. That’s why I feel like I can still get better. So that’s what’s driving me,” Lyon further said.
Ashwin, after his spectacular show in the Nagpur Test where he claimed 8 wickets in the match, jumped to the second spot in the ICC Men’s Test Bowlers Rankings.
The 36-year-old is 21 rating points behind Cummins and is in contention to return to the No.1 ranking for the first time since 2017.
India will now face Australia in the second Test in Delhi from February 17.