Nathan Lyon tries to stoke fire in Indian camp, criticizes R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja’s exclusion

The modern-day spin-bowling legend Nathan Lyon has expressed his surprise over the exclusion of the veteran spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja from the Indian playing XI.

Australia National Cricket Team spinner Nathan Lyon said that he was more than surprised to see Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja getting dropped for the Perth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

Also Read: Who is the best bowler in the world? Ricky Ponting reveals

Washington Sundar preferred over Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the first Test

The Gautam Gambhir-led coaching staff gave preference to Washington Sundar over the veterans Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the Perth Test despite the limited experience of Sundar.

This decision left many surprised, as no one was expecting Sundar to be selected in the team. Over the years, Ravindra Jadeja has been the first-choice spinner of the team in the SENA Tests and he has done a great job for the team as well. However, the new support staff of Gambhir decided to give opportunity to the talented all-rounder Sundar.

Talking about the record of the veteran spinners in Australia, Ashwin has featured in 10 Test matches and has bagged 39 wickets at an average of 42.15, and, with the bat, he has scored 384 runs. On the other hand, Ravindra Jadeja has played 4 Test matches, scored 175 runs, and picked 14 wickets at an average of 21.78.

More than surprised - Nathan Lyon

Speaking to reporters ahead of the Adelaide Test, Nathan Lyon said that Ashwin and Jadeja, who have over 800 Test wickets combined, being benched shows the quality of Indian cricket. He elaborated:

"More than surprised. But that's the quality of the Indian cricketers they've got in their squad. Ashwin has over 530 wickets and Ravi [Jadeja] with more than 300 wickets. So it's pretty remarkable to see the quality of players that are sitting on the bench, but I can't control who they run out."

You are playing against the best players in the world - Nathan Lyon

Nathan Lyon further talked about being smashed by the debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy in the Perth Test. He said that he wasn't surprised with the way the youngster batted against him as the Indian team consists of the best players in the world.

"You are playing against the best players in the world, so no, I was not surprised. But yet again, I do not mind getting hit for boundaries. It provides opportunities for me to hopefully take a few chances along the way. So, there we go," he said.

After the Perth Test loss, Australia are looking to bounce back in the pink-ball Test and Nathan Lyon expressed his excitement over playing against India in 'one of the best venues' Adelaide.

"We are humans, we are going to make mistakes, but if we can go out there and try and learn along the journey then we are going to put ourselves in a better position come our next fixture. We've got a great record here, playing at one of the best venues in the world on a great wicket, so looking forward to that."