“Don’t always think that Nathan Lyon will be the first picked”: Brendon Julian backs Ashton Agar to play over Nathan Lyon in Pakistan tests

Former Aussie all-rounder Brendon Julian believes that Ashton Agar can be a better option than Nathan Lyon on the Pakistan tracks.

After 24 years of wait, the Australian cricket team has reached Pakistan for a multiformat series. The tour will start with tests, followed by three ODIs and a sole T20I on the tour. Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi will host the tests, whereas Rawalpindi will host all the limited over games.

The Australian team has reached Islamabad, they are currently under isolation. Pat Cummins also has given his first press conference, and he is happy about the security and the bio bubble.

The idea of playing in the subcontinent will certainly hamper the team combination of Australians. They are used to playing Nathan Lyon along with three genuine pacers. Cam Green has been playing as the fourth seamer, but the combinations will certainly change here in this series.

Brendon Julian backs Ashton Agar over Nathan Lyon in Pakistan

Mitchell Swepson has been with the Aussie test team for a long now. However, he has not made his test debut yet for the Aussies. He had a brilliant Shield season with Queensland last year, and he is the favourite to partner Nathan Lyon in the first test of the series. Ashton Agar has also been recalled to the test team, but he has not played a single Shield game this season.

Former Australian all-rounder Brendon Julian believes that Ashton Agar can play an important role in this series. According to Julian, Agar can be picked over Nathan Lyon as well. He believes that the left and right combination of Swepson and Agar can be more lethal on the Pakistan tracks.

Nathan Lyon clears the rope, despite two men back! #Ashes pic.twitter.com/LAgNWbDrOi

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 15, 2022

“I think Ashton Agar is a good move because I think the finger spinners are sometimes harder to face, especially on the subcontinent,” Julian told foxsports.com.au.

“They’re a lot quicker through the air.”

“Don’t always think that Nathan Lyon will be the first picked. I think they’ll be open to a Swepson or an Agar coming into the side in front of Lyon because sometimes the left-arm spinner to the right-hand bat is lethal at times and the ball going away from the bat.”

Brendon Julian also talked about the pacers of the Australian side. According to him, Boland and Cummins are the sure starters, whereas either of Starc or Hazlewood will get a chance. He also said that Marnus Labuschagne can be a good spin-bowling backup for the Australians.