Ahead of the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against India, Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon has said that he enjoys the 'challenge' posed by star India batter Virat Kohli.

Lyon compared the reaction from fans to his dismissal of Kohli to that when he claimed the prized scalp of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in 2013.

"Coming up against Virat Kohli, it feels like you've got the nation against you. If you've got a little bit of success and get Virat out or create a chance, you become the most hated cricketer in world cricket quite quickly. I've had a little bit of experience on that front bowling to Sachin Tendulkar a number of years ago now," Lyon said in a recent interaction with Star Sports.

While Kohli has slammed some of his best centuries against Australia with Nathan Lyon featuring in the attack, the off-spinner also had his fair share of success  against the former India skipper, dismissing him as many as seven times.

However, Lyon considers Kohli to be the "best challenge" in cricket.

"Virat has probably been one of the best in world cricket for a long period of time, for him to constantly perform at a high level. It's been a privilege to play against him and compete. I've always said that I want to compete against the best in the world and Virat probably has provided me with the best challenge," he added.

On a separate note, Lyon revealed that he watched videos of veteran India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin so much that his wife got irritated.

"I'm not going to pin myself against Ash. I think the way Ashwin has gone about it has been remarkable and his record speaks for himself. To be honest, I am a totally different bowler from Ash. Have I have sat down and watched a lot of footage of Ashwin before coming over here? Yes, a 100 percent. I've spent a lot of time sitting at home in front of the laptop, driving my wife mad," Lyon said.

"It's all about learning. The best thing about this game is that we are constantly learning, trying to grow and get better by watching your opposition and that's one of the biggest learning curves," he added.

Nathan Lyon also had special praise reserved for Ashwin, saying that the off-spinner has always been keen to share knowledge with him despite all the talks of rivalry between them.

"There's a lot of talk. Lots he has taught me about. Sitting down and speaking to him, there's been a lot that he's taught me and that's just not for here but even in Australia. There's a couple of skillsets that Ash has which I would like to develop. That's why I feel like I can still get better. So that's what's driving me," he said.

(India Today Inputs)