England spinner Shoaib Bashir remains unhindered by his role model Nathan Lyon’s assessment, in which the Australian off-spinner described him as “okay” and backed Jack Leach as England’s leading spin option.
Lyon, Australia’s most successful off-spinner, stirred debate by naming the currently out-of-favour Leach as England’s number one spin option, while offering only faint praise for Bashir.
“Everyone has their own opinions and that’s fine. I just stick to what I believe and what the people around me believe. I don’t really look at that stuff,” Bashir commented as quoted by the PA news agency.
Lyon’s lukewarm assessment hasn’t made Shoaib Bashir any less of a fan. The England off-spinner admitted he still enjoys watching Lyon bowl and hopes to reflect some of what he’s learned when the Ashes come around.
“I do enjoy the way he bowls, especially his overspin, it’s a great asset he has, and the amount of revs he puts on the ball. He’s someone I’ve been looking at for a while now. I learned you do get bounce but you’ve got to find a way to use that,” Bashir said of his time in Australia. I’ve got height but there’s more than just height to extract bounce from the wicket. Just small technical things,” he commented.
Currently recovering from a finger injury, Bashir is likely to be selected for the Ashes tour of Australia if he remains fit. He has been England’s first-choice spinner in the red-ball format for some time now. Given his height and ability to generate bounce, Bashir is expected to pose a serious threat on Australian pitches.
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