They are not lower-order batters: Nathan Lyon lauds Ashwin, Axar
Lyon picked up a fifer [Associated Press]
After a rather dismal performance in the Nagpur Test, Nathan Lyon showed his skills in the second Test match, and picked up yet another fifer against India on Saturday.
India looked comfortable at the end of Day 1, but Lyon changed the complexion of the game, picking up the wickets of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shreyas Iyer and Srikatr Bharat, to end with figures of 5 for 67.
At one stage, India were tottering at 139 for 7, when Axar Patel and R Ashwin joined the rescue act and bailed India out of a precarious situation. Axar went onto score his second fifty of the series, while Ashwin played a handy knock of 37 as India scored 262 in their first innings.
After the end of Day 2, Lyon had an interaction with media and went onto praise the duo of Ashwin and Axar for the way they batted.
“They are not lower order – Axar, Ash could easily bat in top 6 anywhere in the world, they are not lower order, India have long top order."
He added: “Very happy with the five-for, we have got the whole eye in the Test match, still a lot more work to do.”
Lyon also stated that the surface in Delhi has a lot more bounce as compared to what they experienced in Nagpur.
"The bounce was more in Delhi, as compared to Nagpur. Little bit of bounce is something I like to exploit here, I love playing cricket in the subcontinent. It is a challenge to bowl at some world-class superstars."
Australia were at a strong position at the end of Day 2. Despite losing Usman Khawaja, his new opening partner, Travis Head is going strong at 39, and is accompanied by Marnus Labuschagne, as the visitors have a 62-run lead.
 "Anurag Dasgupta")
