Nathan Lyon: Reaching an incredible 500 Test wickets in the opening Test against Pakistan

Nathan Lyon, a spinner from Australia, became just the fourth spinner to 500 wickets in Test cricket history. After Shane Warne, Lyon is the only other Australian spinner to accomplish the feat.

Only four spinners in cricket history have taken 500 wickets in Test matches, including Australia's Nathan Lyon. On Sunday, December 17, at Perth's Optus Stadium, Lyon accomplished his feat by dismissing Faheem Ashraf. In the second innings, Lyon's journey to his 500th wicket was a drawn affair. After Australia's pacers had run through the visiting side's middle and top order, the spinner claimed his 500th and 501st wickets in his 7th over of bowling.

Lyon is only the second spinner to accomplish this remarkable feat, behind Shane Warner, and the third Australian bowler overall. Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia, expressed his belief that Lyon will be able to continue playing for at least four more years and predicted that he will take 700 wickets, possibly surpassing Shane Warne's record of 708 Test wickets.

After the first Test match ended, Cummins said "I still think you've got 40 or 50 Test matches, that's four or five years with 10 (matches) a year," Cummins went on to say. "We're talking about a  couple hundred (wickets) a game, on average, so four or five," the captain said in conclusion.

The idea of taking 700 wickets or even matching the great Shane Warner made Lyon laugh. But Warne was the one who had supported the spinner to accomplish the Herculean feat during the 2019 Ashes.

At the time, Lyon had not played 100 Test matches. "I think he (Lyon) is a chance," Warne had stated to cricket.com.au in 2019. "If you do the stats – if he plays another 85 or 90 Tests, and takes four wickets per game, that's 360 wickets – so he'll get me," Warne had stated.

The legendary spinner had said at the time, "I'd love to watch someone get my record, that would be fantastic because it would mean they've done bloody well for Australia for a long time."

Right now, Warne leads Australia in wicket-taking and is second all-time in cricket history, only surpassed by Muttiah Muralitharan. With 199 wickets remaining, 36-year-old Lyon can still claim his 700th Test wicket.