Australian spinner Nathan Lyon continued to ascend the wickets charts in Test cricket as he added one more to his tally on the first morning of the Sydney clash against India. Lyon got Shubman Gill caught in slips as he surpassed R Ashwin on the list of bowlers with the most number of wickets in the World Test Championship (WTC) history while on the run towards his fellow countryman Glenn McGrath on the overall list.
On the final delivery before lunch on Day 1, Gill came down the track against Lyon trying to off-balance him off his lines but the off-spinner saw that. He threw it a little wider, Gill had to make the last-minute adjustment and he could only edge it to Steve Smith in the slips. This happened just after Gill was having an argy-bargy with Smith and MArnus Labuschagne. This was Lyon's 196th wicket in WTC history as he went past R Ashwin and his Australian captain Pat Cummins (195).
This was Lyon's 539th wicket having left Ashwin behind on the overall list during the MCG Test.
Most wickets in World Test Championship (WTC) history (2019-2025)
Nathan Lyon (Australia) - 196 (in 85 innings)
R Ashwin (India) - 195 (in 78 innings)
Pat Cummins (Australia) - 195 (in 87 innings)
Mitchell Starc (Australia) - 163 (in 82 innings)
Jasprit Bumrah (India) - 154 (in 65 innings)
Lyon also got to his 52nd wicket in the current WTC cycle as he equalled England's Gus Atkinson and leapfrogged Chris Woakes (51).
It was a tricky SCG track no doubt with the ball continuing to do a lot from the seamers mostly from the outset and even till the third session. The grass, a bit of cracks and the weather and some very good and consistent bowling combined to make it difficult for the Indian batters. KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal both fell in single digits. While Gill and Virat Kohli did show some fight but eventually faltered as India were left depending upon the middle and lower-middle order once again to take the sinking ship to the safer shores.
