In theory, both Ravichandran Ashwin (373 Test wickets at 25.2/53.3) and Nathan Lyon (391 Test wickets at 31.7/63.2) are both off-spinners. Watch them bowl, and you begin to notice the poverty of the classification. Lyon bowls side-on, gets the ball to curl away from the right-hander in the air, and dip on account his top spin. He’s constantly attacking the top of off-stump. Lyon’s game is drag the batsman out and challenge both edges of the outstretched bat. Should the batsman hang back, the top spin usually means that the ball invariably hits the bat higher than the batsman would like and brings the leg-trap into play. It is high-quality classic off-spin - nearly 400 Test wickets worth.
Beautifully analyzed and written.
Beautiful piece