Stats: Nathan Lyon overtakes Ravichandran Ashwin to become seventh-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket

The Australian bowling attack passed the Test with flying colours in the Boxing Day Test match at the MCG not only with the ball but with the bat as well. This was enough to ensure that the hosts took a 2-1 lead in the series going into the last Test at the SCG.

The bowling attack has been receiving a lot of praise in this series and though the series belongs mainly to the pacers, the contribution of Nathan Lyon cannot be overlooked. The legendary spinner might not have had the best series but has made crucial contributions to the team in the all-important Boxing Day Test in which he took five wickets and scored a crucial 41 in the second innings to give Australia a huge lead.

In the process, Lyon rose to the seventh spot in the list of highest wicket-takers in Test cricket. The off-spinner took the final wicket of the game by dismissing Mohammed Siraj and overtook Ravichandran Ashwin taking his tally to 538 wickets while Ashwin retired with 537.

Muttiah Muralitharan (800), Shane Warne (708), James Anderson (704), Anil Kumble (619), Stuart Broad (604), and Glenn McGrath (563) are ahead of Lyon in the list now.

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Most wickets in WTC 

This was not the only record Lyon has broken as he shares another record with Ashwin and skipper Pat Cummins as well. All three of these bowlers are currently the joint-highest wicket-takers in the World Test Championship (WTC) with 195 wickets to their name. The only thing that keeps Lyon below the other two in this list is his average of 27.21 which is higher than Ashwin's (21.49) and Cummins' (22.80).

Speaking of Lyon’s performance in BGT 2024-25, it has been a slightly quiet series for him where he has taken only eight wickets from the six innings he has played and though he has a decent economy of 2.68 he is averaging 39.12 which is very high for his standards.