India vs England: Tom Hartley hopes Nathan Lyon is a ‘game-changer’ for his bowling

England spinner Tom Hartley hopes Nathan Lyon’s arrival at Lancashire can be a “game-changer” for his bowling.

“He’s someone I want to try to replicate,” Hartley told BBC Sport.

“To be an international cricketer you have to able to perform in different conditions and Nathan is a guy that can really help me.”

Left-armer Hartley played only 20 first-class matches before making his Test debut in the first match of the series in India.

After four Tests, Hartley is the leading wicket-taker on either side with 20 victims. His match-winning 7-62 in the series opener were the best figures by an England spinner on Test debut for 91 years.

England coach Brendon McCullum has said it will be a “frustration” if Hartley and off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, who has also enjoyed a successful first tour, are not given opportunities in county cricket.

Lancashire signed Australian Lyon, one of the greatest finger-spinners of all time, well before this tour. The 36-year-old, who is seventh on the list of leading wicket-takers in Test cricket with 527, is available for the entire home summer.

New Lancashire coach Dale Benkenstein said it will be “tough” fitting both men into the side, but it is a “nice headache” to have.

And Hartley is looking at the positive opportunity to learn from Lyon, rather than a potential negative of being forced out of the starting XI.

“People have different mindsets,” said Hartley. “I hope he’s going to be fantastic for me and be a real game-changer.

“Obviously signing another spinner, you think about it a little bit. The type of bowler he is is something I’m trying to work on.

“The way he operates in Australia on pretty flat wickets, there are times when English wickets are pretty similar. He’s going to be great to learn off.”

Hartley also believes the confidence he has gained in India will help him compete with Lyon if there is only one space available in the Lancashire team.

“I’d not really played a whole lot of red-ball cricket, but coming here has made me believe that I do have a talent for this and I can perform at this level,” he said.

“When I go out on the field I’m really trying, believing and thinking that I can do well. It’s not just a case of bowling and hoping the batter chips one up, or trying to go at two or three an over. It’s been a complete change of mindset.”

England, who are 3-1 down and cannot win the series, arrived for Thursday’s fifth Test in Dharamsala on Sunday.

Rain on Sunday led to Monday’s training session being cancelled, but the weather turned out to be clear and sunny, allowing some of the players to explore the Himalayan city.

The fifth Test will attract the largest travelling support of the series. Cool temperatures at the end of the Indian winter are expected, with the possibility of some rain on the first day.

England could play three frontline seamers for the first time in the series, leaving Hartley and Bashir competing for the one spinner’s place in the side.

If England do play three seamers, they must decide whether to keep faith with Ollie Robinson, who had a difficult return to the side in the fourth-Test defeat in Ranchi, or hand a debut to Surrey’s Gus Atkinson.

Batter Jonny Bairstow will play his 100th Test, with India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also in line to reach the same milestone.