In the forthcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024, set for November, two leading Test spinners of this age are scheduled to meet. Nathan Lyon from Australia as well as Ravichandran Ashwin from India have become the main players for their respective national teams with Australia looking forward to meet his adversary in the upcoming tournament.
Both men have reached the last phase of their careers according to Lyon who talked about fierce yet respectful rivalry between them. He revealed during an interview with Star Sports, “I know Ashwin; we made our debuts almost at the same time. We’ve played against each other in many series now, I have nothing but respect for him.”
The players develop friendship off the pitch also, with Ashwin jokingly suggesting that they should have home-and-away legs when they retire internationally. Similarly, Lyon has always mentioned Ashwin in positive terms and regarded him as a yardstick for self-improvement.
“I just love watching him bowl, he is such a magician at what he does – it’s been really nice to compete with him and pick up some bowling tips in the process,” commented Lyon.
Lyon will be expected to play a key role as Australia prepares for the Border-Gavaskar campaign. Australia is the World Test Champions and it has been 10 years since they won the trophy against India; hence they want it most.
With all on the two star bowlers, both teams are going to come up with their first eleven in this game following how these players shall determine its outcome. It will be great seeing Ashwin and Lyon competing against one another since each of them has performed over 500 wickets so far.
World Test Championship standings provides insight into what could happen during the tournament with particular emphasis on winning multiple matches. While Australia wants to defend its title, India is trying to avoid losing again in WTC finals and finally win its first trophy
