‘Lyon more complete bowler than Ashwin’

New Delhi: Veteran Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon, expected to play a vital role in the upcoming five-Test Border-Gavaskar series, is a more “complete” bowler compared to India’s Ravichandran Ashwin, former South African bowler Paul Adams, who became popular for his unorthodox action, said on Tuesday.

Lyon, with 530 Test wickets, and Ashwin, with 536 scalps, are the two most potent spinners in the world but Adams, whose “frog in a blender” action made him quite a celebrity during his playing days, said the Australian had the ability to trouble batters on pitches around the world.

“I still think Nathan Lyon has a more complete game in terms of competing in subcontinent and in Australia or South Africa, those type of conditions, than Ashwin,” said Adams, who played 45 Tests and took 134 wickets, when asked who between the two had a more complete game to succeed all around the world.

“He (Ashwin) has a carrom ball that can turn the ball the opposite ways. But Lyon has been someone who has bowled with a lot of over-spin. That challenges the batters,” added Adams, 47, in a virtual interaction arranged by SA20.

With India’s key pacer Mohammed Shami not a part of the Australia-bound squad for the Border-Gavaskar series, Adams felt the stalwarts services will be dearly missed.

“I think he (Shami) will be a major miss for India, given the Australian conditions. The pace and bouncy wickets in Australia would have helped India in gaining an upper hand if Shami had been in the squad but that’s not in the selector’s hand as he is recovering, but I think he will be missed,” Adams said. Shami will aim to prove his fitness in a real-match situation after undergoing intense rehabilitation at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.