Chopra feels Ashwin is a good spinner but only when the turf is a turning one.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra made a pick between Australia's off-spinner Nathan Lyon and India spinner R Ashwin. Both the spinners are Test specialists of their team and have played a reasonable number of matches in the longer format.
While Ashwin has 365 wickets in 71 matches, Lyon bagged 390 scalps in 96 Test appearances for Australia.
Numbers show the India spinner has better numbers considering the ratio of wickets but Chopra went ahead with Lyon. His reason was simple, the 32-year-old has produced wickets in unfavorable conditions.
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“I am going with Nathan Lyon, especially in the recent past. It is because I like a couple of things about Nathan Lyon. Firstly, I like his body action. He puts the body behind the delivery. He gets a good bounce. And in conditions where the pitch is not tailor-made for a spin, there also he does very well,” Aakash Chopra while speaking in his own Youtube channel.
The cricketer-turned-commentator also added that Ashwin leaves everyone behind in home conditions. “If you play Ashwin and Lyon in spin-friendly conditions, say in India, Ashwin will be miles ahead. And he will take wickets quickly and consistently against any opposition team,” he said.
“But Nathan Lyon on good surfaces like South Africa, England or Australia, since he is born and bred in Australia, he knows how to put the body behind the ball. He is also friendly with the Kookaburra ball, so the revs on the ball and all of that, Nathan Lyon does that more,” Chopra further added.