Pakistan vs Australia 2018: Watched a Lot of Videos of Ravichandran Ashwin - Nathan Lyon

Australia premier spinner Nathan Lyon started off his tour of UAE in a sensational manner as the off-spinner bagged eight wickets in the first innings of Australia’s practice game against Pakistan A. Lyon admitted to the fact that there was more turn on offer on Day than his expectations. He further added he did his homework while coming into the match. Lyon feels the preparations helped him to bag his maiden five-wicket haul of the tour.

He credited Ravichandran Ashwin for his rise. He said he watched the footages of the Indian spinner and some other spinners to work on his game in the subcontinent. Thus, Lyon is confident of doing well in the two-match Test series. Lyon is also pretty pleased with his release point of the ball.

Nathan Lyon didn’t expect the pitch to turn too much.

He will definitely be the most important bowler for Australia. The off-spinner has been a champion bowler for Australia and has been their first proper wicket-taking spinner since Shane Warne.

“I didn’t expect it to spin that much, but Day 1, it was ragging. It was good fun to bowl. Taking five wickets obviously helps but I think I’ve really worked hard for the past 24 months or a little bit more than that, really on my subcontinent game. I’ve looked at a lot of footage of Ashwin and all those guys, how they bowl over here and I’ve had to reassess with the way I approach. I’m happy with where I am at the moment, I’m feeling very confident, the ball is coming out of my hand really nice.

“They can ploy whatever they want to ploy. But we’re working hard, we’re preparing well. It’s about playing decent cricket here and get into a really good momentum for the first Test. Whatever they throw at us, we’ll make sure that we’re working hard on our games and just controlling what we can control. Not really worried about what they’re doing. If we can do what we do best and prepare in the best possible way we can for the first Test, then we’re in good shape.”

Over the years Lyon has established himself as one of the leaders in the team. He has been the lone spinner in the Australian Test team and has had exceptional success in the longest format. Lyon will play a pretty important role if Australia harbors hope of winning the Test series even in the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner.