Sydney – Approaching his 500th Test wicket, Nathan Lyon hails the influence of an Indian rival on his remarkable career to date. Twenty years ago, the cricket world was absorbed by the race being run between sharply contrasting but equally enigmatic rivals Shane Warne and Muthiah Muralidaran to see who would become the first spin bowler to reach 500 Test wickets.
Ultimately it was the late leggie who scaled that peak four days and one Test match earlier than the unorthodox off-spinner, as they shared their respective glories during a celebrated series in Sri Lanka during March 2004. Two decades on, a similar duel is being waged between Australia’s Nathan Lyon and his India off-spin counterpart Ravichandran Ashwin, with the former expected to take the honours by reaching the rare milestone during the NRMA Insurance Test Series against Pakistan that starts at Perth Stadium tomorrow.
With an average of more than seven wickets per Test in his three outings at the venue to date, and with his current haul numbering 496, Lyon is likely to broach the benchmark ahead of Ashwin (on 489), with India’s next red-ball outing scheduled for Boxing Day against South Africa. But just as Warne and Muralidaran overcame the enmity of their playing days to forge a close friendship and add their names to the perpetual Test trophy contested by their two countries, so Lyon sees Ashwin as more inspiration than adversary.
“You look at Ashwin, he’s a world-class bowler and somebody I’ve watched closely from the start of his career,” Lyon said ahead of his return to Test cricket after suffering a serious calf injury at Lord’s last June. “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. I’ve definitely learned from him. 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.
“It’s pretty amazing to see we’re both creeping up to that 500 mark, and we’ll see where we end up. Hopefully at the end of our career we’ll sit down and have a nice feed and a beer and talk about it.” That the duo who made their respective Test debuts in the same year (2011) and whose birthdays are barely a year apart – Ashwin turned 37 in September, Lyon 36 last month – are vying for such a rare honour in close proximity only underscores their joint status among the game’s true greats.
Of the more than 3100 men to have represented their countries in Tests since 1877, only seven – less than 0.25 per cent, or around one in every 450 – have bowled well enough for long enough to claim 500 wickets. The current global heavyweight of cricket having won this year’s ICC World Championship and World Cup finals at India’s expense, Australia will also become the first nation to boast three bowlers with 500-plus wickets when Lyon surpasses that threshold.
Warne (708) and his pace-bowling contemporary Glenn McGrath (563) are there, along with England pair James Anderson (690) and Stuart Broad (604) while Muralidaran (800), India’s Anil Kumble (619) and West Indian Courtney Walsh (519) are sole representatives from their teams.
Source: https://www.cricket.com.au/news/