Axar, Ashwin are not lower-order batsmen: Nathan Lyon

R Ashwin during his 37 against Australia on Saturday. Pic/AFP

Had Nathan Lyon been an India skipper, he would have issued a quick rebuttal if someone had dared to refer to Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin as lower-order batters.

On an interesting second day, Ashwin (37) and Axar (74) added 114 runs for the eighth wicket after India had slumped to 139-7, with Lyon taking his 22nd five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

The Australian spinner complimented the two India players for their gritty batting display, saying the duo could easily bat at No. 6 for any Test-playing team.
"They are not lower-order [batsmen]. Let's get that clear. Axar and Ash could easily bat in the Top 6 in a few teams in Test cricket around the world in my eyes. They [India] have a very long top order, let's just say that," said Lyon.

Also read: Ravichandran Ashwin vs Nathan Lyon: Battle of two quality spinners

Thanks to the efforts of Axar and Ashwin, India kept Australia's first-innings lead down to just one run. Australia have started aggressively in their second innings scoring 61-1, but Lyon said he will not get into any target setting at the moment.

"I'm not going to give you a number. Whatever we get we have to make sure it's enough. That's the mentality we need to do [go with]; we need to come here tomorrow [Sunday] and be really brave."

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