England’s frontline spinner, Shoaib Bashir, remains unfazed by the comments made by his Australian counterpart, Nathan Lyon after his performances in the recently-concluded home series against India.
Lyon had shared his verdict on Bashir in the series as rather middling and suggested that someone like Jack Leach might be their best spin option as both teams gear up for the Ashes Down Under later this year.
Bashir was ruled out after the third Test due to a finger injury. He is currently recovering from the knock which is when he had responded to Lyon’s jibe.
“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.
The 21-year-old admitted that he was an avid follower of Lyon throughout his Test career and has taken some tips from the latter which he plans to use for the Ashes tour.
“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.
“It’s just (about) nailing what I do best. If you look at my attributes – I’m tall and try to put as many revs on the ball as I can, with that comes variations. I’m still learning, still quite young, I’m still trying develop my game and better myself day-by-day. That will never stop. I love talking about the game and I love learning,” he added.
Should he make a full recovery, it is likely that the spinner will feature in his first Test in Australian soil where he hopes to play a key role in hopes of reclaiming the urn. Bashir admitted that he won’t be looking to back down and will look to take things up a notch to help England in their pursuit.
“Don’t be surprised if I do have a word but I genuinely like to keep things cool. If things do get heated then I’m there. It would be special and a great achievement (to win the series), especially with this regime at the moment. We’re looking forward to what it brings,” he concluded
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