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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, who has been out of action since the 2023 World Cup final on November 19 due to an ankle injury and subsequent surgery, will aim to prove his fitness in a real-match situation after undergoing intense rehabilitation at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
He will make his much-anticipated return to competitive cricket after a hiatus of nearly a year through Bengal's Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh in Indore from Wednesday, the Cricket Association of Bengal has announced.
Adams added that Shami's absence will put more pressure on pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.
"We all saw what he (Shami) did in the 2023 ODI World Cup. He single-handedly carried the Indian pace attack and he is someone who has the ability to extract pace and swing from any pitches around the world despite the conditions. The pressure will be on vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah and other pacers but I believe it will be all-rounders who will play a huge role for India, especially Ravindra Jadeja," added Adams.
Leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been a revelation in South African conditions during the ongoing T20I series, and Adams believes the 33-year-old's control over the ball is amazing.
Chakravarthy took three wickets in the T20I opener, which India won by 61 runs and returned excellent figures of 5/17 in the second T20I albeit in a losing cause.
"Yeah, I think his control of length has been great in terms of bowling, his googly and his leggy. So, his release point as well is (at a) very similar height in terms of getting that googly out and the lines.
"So, his control has been absolutely magnificent in terms of how to challenge the batter's defense and also they're not sure in how to line him up in what they're seeing at the moment," he said.
"So, the South African side has got some homework to do on how they're going to play him and how they're going to go about him in the two matches left (in the four-match series)."