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Indian cricket team spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was all praise for Nathan Lyon after the Australia cricketer completed 500 wickets in Test cricket. Lyon achieved the feat during the first Test match against Pakistan which Australia went on to win by 360 runs. Lyon took two wickets in the second innings as Pakistan were bundled out for just 89. Ashwin took to social media to congratulate Lyon on his sensational achievement and even went to call him a ‘GOAT’ after completing 500 wickets.
“8th bowler and only the 2nd off spinner in history to pick 500 test wickets. @NathLyon421 congrats mate #AUSvsPAK,” Ashwin posted on X (formerly Twitter) along with two goat emojis.
8th bowler and only the 2nd off spinner in history to pick 500 test wickets.@NathLyon421 congrats mate#AUSvsPAK
— Ashwin (@ashwinravi99) December 17, 2023
Lyon claimed his 500th Test wicket on Sunday to join an exclusive club of just seven others to achieve the feat, with skipper Pat Cummins believing he has another 200 in him.
The 36-year-old veteran, whose longevity is partly due to having not played international white-ball cricket since 2019, reached the milestone in his 123rd match.
He began the first Test against Pakistan in Perth on 496 and was left stranded on 499 after their first innings.
But he finally reached 500 on day four by dismissing Faheem Ashraf lbw on review, with his teammates mobbing him in celebration. Lyon then bowled Aamer Jamal in the same over for his 501st.
“It’s something I’m very proud about, I don’t think it’s hit me yet,” said Lyon.
“There’s obviously been a lot of hard work gone into the journey and I’ve had a lot more bad days than good days, but to be back out there in the middle … it’s pretty special.
“I still pinch myself when I see my name next to those guys,” he said of the exalted company he has joined, including fellow spin kings Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne.
Affectionately known as “Garry” after former Australian rules football player Garry Lyon, he made his debut in 2011 and has best figures of 8-50, collecting 23 five-wicket hauls and 10 wickets four times so far.
He told reporters before the Perth match that he wanted to continue playing at international level until Australia’s next Ashes sojourn to England in 2027.
Lyon would not say how many more wickets he could get, but Cummins suggested he had another 200 in him.
“I still think he’s got 40-50 Test matches,” he said.
“That’s four or five years at 10 a year, probably average what four (wickets) a game, that’s another couple of hundred (wickets) and that’s 700.”
That would move him close to fellow Australian Warne, who has 708 and is second on the all-time list behind Sri Lanka great Muralitharan on 800.
A classical spinner who flights the ball, the right-armer could feasibly catch West Indian great Courtney Walsh (519) during the current three-Test series.
(With AFP inputs)
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