'I love watching Ashwin bowl, he's an absolute master in the craft' - Nathan Lyon ahead of Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Ravichandran Ashwin vs Nathan Lyon is always a huge debate ahead of any edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The legendary spin wizards share a good relationship off the field, but on the field they compete hard for their teams to get the job done.It has been a long time since Australia last won a Test series against India and Ashwin is one of the biggest reasons why.

In the last edition of the tournament, Ashwin picked up 25 wickets in four matches and finished as the leading wicket-taker of the series. In the 2020-21 season, the star off-spinner picked up 12 wickets in three matches and finished as India’s second-leading wicket-taker while also contributing heavily with the bat. In recent times, Ashwin has had an edge over Lyon but the tables can also turn in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, slated to begin on November 22.

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Ahead of that, Lyon was full of praise for Ashwin. He reminded how both of them started their career almost at a similar time and added that he admires Ashwin’s bowling, calling the Chennai-born an "absolute master" of his craft.

“I know Ashwin and we debuted around similar times and we've competed against each other in a number of series now and between me and Ashwin I have got nothing but respect for him. I feel like I love watching him bowl, he's an absolute master in the craft of off-spin bowling and it's been an absolute privilege to play against him and learn off him,” Lyon told Star Sports.

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“I've always said throughout my whole career I want to compete against the best and you look through the whole Indian line-up, the whole squad, there's absolute superstars everywhere you look and you want to compete and challenge yourself against them…” Lyon added.