Lyon hopes `Ashwin study' will pay off

PUNE: When Nathan Lyon was being carted to all corners of the Brabourne stadium in the warmup game against India `A', fans must have been reminded of the 1997-98 series when Sachin Tendulkar took the attack to Shane Warne and Co. on his way to a double hundred in the pre-Test warmup. That game set the tone for the three Tests to come. It took Warne another eight years and nine Tests before he could end up on the winning side in a series in India.The comparison between Lyon and Warne, however, should end with that tour match. There's a chasm between the two, not just in terms of bowling style but also when it comes to performance in the subcontinent. Warne suffered brutally on his first visit to India.A second tour three years later didn't yield much benefit either.When he finally tasted success the third time in 2004, it was in a defensive role, playing second fiddle to the pace trio of Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz.So with the Australian selectors loading up their squad with slow bowlers, much will depend on what role Lyon has to play in the four Tests. When the Aussies were thrashed 4-0 the last time they visited India in 2013, Lyon returned with 15 wickets at 37.33, with a strike rate of 50.80. That tally is more than Warne's collection from nine matches in India.Lyon could perhaps go back further in time and look at Greg Matthews, the enigmatic offie who clinched the tied Test for Allan Border's team in Chennai in 1986.In three Tests, Matthews, now 57, scalped 14 batsmen at 29.07 with a strike rate of 51.50. Matthews was supported from the other end by left-arm spinner Ray Bright. Lyon is expected to bowl in tandem with Steve O'Keefe this time.New South Welshman Lyon seems to be taking inspiration from the rival camp. “I have been watching a lot of footage of Ashwin, the way he goes about it, his different release points. He is a worldclass spinner, the best in the world at the moment, and there is a reason for it. I have been studying him a lot,“ Lyon said here on Tuesday . “I am not going to tell you what I have been working on. I have definitely changed my approach to the subcontinent conditions compared to four years ago. We have to wait and see how it comes out, I guess.“This is not the first time an Australian team touring India has more than one spinner in the ranks. Richie Benaud combined with Ian Johnson (1956) and Lind say Kline (1959). In 1964, the squad comprised Bobby Simpson, Brian Booth, Bob Cowper, Rex Sellers and Tom Veivers.One lesson that Lyon seems to have grasped from the campaign in 2004 is that wickets are not going to come in a flurry. “That's where you get into trouble. If you are going to come out and try to take a wicket off every ball, you are going to get hit for boundaries,“ he said. “For us, coming over and competing here is about building pressure, either with quickies or spinners at the other end. We have to try and give minimal runs and make the Indians play the big shots. That's where we are going to build pressure.“