In a video published across their social media handles by cricket.com.au this morning, Australia spinner Nathan Lyon admitted to be aware about the “hard work” needed from his side for his team to retain the forthcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy after eight years.
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Although Lyon’s Indian counterpart Ravichandran Ashwin hasn’t made any such admission but it a well-known fact that Ashwin will have to play a similar role for the home team during the four Test matches to be played between the two high-profile teams.
A bowler of Ashwin’s stature shouldn’t be reduced to any sort of filter with respect to the opposition’s batters in the general run of things but Ashwin’s role will be all the more crucial primarily due to the presence of at least four left-handed batters among the specialist Australian batters.
In 18 Tests against Australia, Ashwin has picked 89 wickets at an average and strike rate of 31.48 and 69.2 respectively. With the bat in hand, Ashwin has scored 457 Test runs against the Aussies which consist of a couple of half-centuries.
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Ashwin, who has been left out to accommodate all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in overseas Tests of late, will also have to aid Jadeja in the lower-order as a batter especially in the absence of wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant.
R Ashwin advocates fans’ hilarious response to ‘Boys only need one thing’ viral meme
Also known for his wit and humour apart from his skills as a cricketer, Ashwin took to social media platform Twitter as a three-word tweet was enough for him to become a source of amazement among fans.
Ashwin spoke for a lot of Indian cricket team’s fans when he reckoned that “Border-Gavaskar Trophy” is the one thing which boys need that starts with “B”. Ashwin’s take on an already viral meme saw people endorsing his opinion three days before the start of the first Test match in Nagpur.
Ashwin, who has been part of four away Border-Gavaskar Trophies in the past, will be partaking in his third one at home.
