Ashwin, an incredibly smart bowler, has taught me a lot: Nathan Lyon

Nathan Lyon praises Ravichandran Ashwin as his best coach, preparing for a competitive Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia.

Veteran Australian spinner Nathan Lyon believes that rival players often serve as the "best coaches", acknowledging that his Indian counterpart Ravichandran Ashwin has "taught" him a great deal through their faceoffs since 2011-12.

Having made their Test debuts in the same year, Lyon and Ashwin will face each other for the eighth time in the longest format during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy five-Test series beginning in Perth on November 22.

"Ash (Ashwin) is an incredible bowler. I’ve gone head-to-head with him for basically my whole career, so I’ve learned a lot from Ash," Lyon told Fox Cricket.

"He’s an incredibly smart bowler, and he’s able to learn and adapt very quickly, and I think the best bowlers in the world are able to do that. He used his skills to benefit himself and his team.

"So, you’ve got to give credit where credit’s due, he was the best bowler (in 2020/21), as he usually is. So, hats off to Ash." It will be Ashwin's fifth Test tour of Australia, where he has claimed 39 wickets in 10 Tests at an average of 42.15.

Lyon further admitted to having studied Ashwin's bowling closely, especially before Australia toured India in the last few years.

"He’s taught me a lot,” Lyon said. “I’m a big believer in the players that you play against are your best coaches that you eventually come across." "I’ve watched a lot of his footage heading over to India, the way he goes about it here in Australia, see if I can pick up anything.