Ravichandran Ashwin and Nathan Lyon started their career at a similar time. They both made their debut for their national side in 2011. Since then, they have been the most successful spinners in test cricket. But debate raises many times as to who is a better spin bowler in test cricket. That's what we will discuss today.
<h2><b><center>Ashwin's Bowling Style and Stats</h2></b></center>
Ravichandran Ashwin is an off-spinner. He has got <i>a lot of variations in his bag</i> which makes him one of the most difficult bowlers to face. Ashwin is known for reviving the "lost art of Carrom Ball". He has the best bowling average amongst the currently active players with more than 250 wickets.
Apart from that he recently became the third-highest wicket-taker for India in test cricket and is about to overtake Kapil Dev. Ashwin averages 24.12 with a strike rate of 52.20. He has picked up 427 wickets in test cricket till now.
<h2><b><center>Lyon's Bowling Style and Stats</h2></b></center>
Nathan Lyon is also a right-hand off-spinner. Though he does something different with his balls. He <i>over-spins the ball</i> which leads to an extreme dip in the ball and the ball bounces before the batsman expects it to. This also provides him with an <b>extra bounce</b> on the ball. The extra bounce makes Lyon's bowling very effective considering he doesn't have a lot of variations like Ashwin has.
Recently Nathan Lyon crossed the 400-test wickets mark making him the only third Australian Bowler to achieve the feat. He currently has 408 test wickets and averages 31.96 and a strike rate of 64.56.
<h2><b><center>Comparison In Different Countries</h2></b></center>
Overall stats show that Ravichandran Ashwin has done better than Nathan Lyon in all aspects. But it would be wrong to say that Ashwin is better than Lyon just based on overall stats as one of the advantages that Ashwin has over Lyon is that he mostly plays on the Indian pitches which are considered better for spin bowling.
In neutral Asian venues like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Ravichandran Ashwin averages 19.00 and 21.58 respectively. While Lyon has a staggering average of 14.32 in Bangladesh but average goes to 33.52 in Sri Lanka. Ashwin has performed consistently well in Asia but <b>Lyon has done extremely well in Bangladesh he has done quite bad in Sri Lanka.</b>
Ashwin has done better than Nathan Lyon in fast bowling favorable environments of England and the West Indies as well. Ashwin has an average of 28.11 in England and 23.18 in the West Indies while Lyon averages 31.62 in England and 23.38 in West Indies. Their performance in West Indies is quite similar but <b>Ashwin has done better in English conditions as well.</b>
On the other hand, on bouncy pitches of South Africa, <b>Nathan Lyon with an average of 39.75 leaves Ashwin behind who averages 46.14 there.</b> Though both these averages aren't very good, Lyon's extra bounce does help him more in South Africa.
<h2><b><center>Conclusion</h2></b></center>
<i>At home, Ashwin averages 21.41 and away he averages 30.56. While Nathan Lyon averages 32.63 at home and 31.26 away from home</i>. This shows that they have a very similar career in foreign conditions but Ashwin edges over Lyon by a small number. In my opinion, Ravichandran Ashwin's variations make him a better bowler to go for in different kinds of conditions.
Not to forget that Nathan Lyon has bowled almost 4000 more balls than Ashwin but has got 17 fewer wickets than him. Ravichandran Ashwin has also got the Test Player of the Year Award to his name (in 2016). Lyon is also only the second player who averages above 30 amongst the players with more than 400 wickets. In my opinion, <b>Ravichandran Ashwin has done better than Nathan Lyon in test cricket.</b>
