Akshar and Ashwin can bat in top six positions in any Test team: Lyon

Australian spinner Nathan Lyon on Saturday heaped praise on India’s lower-order batsmen Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin, saying the duo can bat in the top six of any Test playing team. On the second day of the second Test, Ashwin (37 runs) and Akshar (74 runs) then put on 114 runs for the eighth wicket as India were reduced to 139 for seven. Lyon took five wickets for the 22nd time in Test cricket.

He said after the end of the second day’s play, “He is not a lower-order batsman.” In my view Akshar and Ashwin can easily bat in the top six positions in some teams in Test cricket around the world. Can say that their (India’s) top order is very tall. Due to Akshar and Ashwin, the Indian team was trailing by just one run according to Australia’s first innings. Australia batted aggressively in the second innings to reach 61 for one but Lyon said he could not put a number on setting the target at this stage.

He said, “I cannot tell you the number. Whatever target we give, we have to make sure it is sufficient. We need to move forward with this mindset. We have to bat well here. Lyon said that the Feroz Shah Kotla pitch had a lot of bounce which helped them. He said, “There is a lot of boom in Delhi as compared to Nagpur, which I would definitely like to take advantage of.