Lyon humbled by Tendulkar tweet

Australia spinner Nathan Lyon has earned the praise of legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar after taking a record-equalling five-wicket haul in the second Domain Test in Perth.

Lyon's 5-67 at Perth Stadium was the seventh time the off-spinner has taken five wickets or more in an innings against India, the equal-most against the subcontinental nation in Test cricket.

Sri Lanka great Muthiah Muralidaran held the record alone before Lyon pounced in Perth, but the Australian achieved the feat in 30 innings compared to 32 by the rubber-wristed spinner. 

What's more, Lyon equalled the record on a pitch suited to fast bowling, which offered little sideways spin but did provide invariable bounce at times.

Lyon's brilliant performance was not lost on the great Tendulkar.

"Australia have got a very special spinner in @NathLyon421," Tendulkar tweeted. 

"He has got terrific variations and uses the pace and bounce from the pitch to extract maximum value."

After hearing of Tendulkar's tweet, Lyon was understandably chuffed.

"That's amazing to get something like that from Sachin Tendulkar," Lyon said after play. 

"He's obviously one of the greatest of all time to ever play the game. 

"So, to get recognised from him it's a massive honour."

Leg-spinner and former Test captain Richie Benaud previously held the Australian record with four five-wicket hauls, while legends Glenn McGrath (two) and Shane Warne (one) failed to come close to the impact Lyon has had against India.

Lyon now has 331 Test wickets and finds himself at No.25 on the all-time leading wicket-takers list having leapfrogged Proteas pace ace Allan Donald on Sunday.

But at 31, Lyon says he's got plenty of gas in the tank and will reflect on his achievements once his playing days are done. 

"It's a bit surreal," Lyon said when told of the record.   

"To pass the great 'White Lightning' it's pretty special. 

"Those types of milestones for me personally haven't really sunk in. I don't think I'm at the top of my game yet. 

"I think I've still got a lot of improvement, a lot of learning about the game and about off-spin bowling. I believe there's a lot around the corner for me if I keep working hard and keep wanting to get better. 

"At the end of my career I'll sit down with my family and friends and hopefully have a beer with mum and dad and my brother and everyone else and just go 'OK, that's where we got to, that's pretty special'.

"But I've got a lot to achieve in my eyes."

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: First Test, Adelaide Oval, India won by 31 runs

Dec 14-18: Second Test, Perth Stadium

Dec 26-30: Third Test, MCG

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Chris Tremain

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar