Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon etched his name in record books when he became the fourth spinner in cricket history to scalp 500 wickets. Lyon completed this feat when he picked up the wicket of Faheem Ashraf trapped leg before on Sunday, December 17, during day 4 of the first Test match at Perth. (IND Vs RSA Match Blog | More Cricket News)
He finished the match with 501 wickets as Australia ended up beating the Asian side by a massive 360 runs.Speaking after the match, Lyon said, "Great feeling to take 500 wickets. Nice to get back after the injury, I have not taken anything for granted, especially playing for Australia, appreciate every moment of my career."
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The spinner joined an elusive list of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath to become the third Aussie bowler to achieve the feat. Lyon came into the 1st Test with 496 Test wickets. He scalped three Pakistan wickets in the 1st innings, removing Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, and Aamer Jamal. Lyon could have finished up the tail and achieved the milestone in the first innings itself but Travis Head scalped the final wicket of Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Talking about the record, Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is the fastest to reach the feat, in 87 Test matches. The legendary Sri Lankan has 800 Test wickets to his name and is followed by Anil Kumble (105), Shane Warne (108), and Glenn McGrath (108).
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Speaking ahead of the 1st Test and achieving the feat, Lyon spoke highly of Ravichandran Ashwin and said he has nothing but 'respect' for the Indian offie.
"You look at Ashwin, he's a world-class bowler and somebody I've watched closely from the start of his career We've gone head-to-head many times in different conditions around the world. I've got nothing but respect for Ashwin and the way he's gone about it," Lyon said on the eve of the Perth Test against Pakistan, as quoted by cricket.com.au.
"I've definitely learned from him. There's an opportunity to learn from the people you play against, and without knowing it he's probably been one of my biggest coaches in a way.
"It's pretty amazing to see we're both creeping up to that 500 mark, and we'll see where we end up.
"Hopefully at the end of our career we'll sit down and have a nice feed and a beer and talk about it," he added.
