Galle, 2011 5-34 v Sri Lanka

One could argue that no one has started their Test career in better fashion than Nathan Lyon.

Only 19 men in the history of the game have taken a wicket with their very first ball in Test cricket and none have removed a batsman of the quality of Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara.

But Lyon, who became just the third Australian to achieve the feat and the first in 117 years, didn't stop there in his dream debut.

On a second day surface that was already taking significant turn, the debutant followed up his remarkable start by returning late in the innings to wrap up Sri Lanka's tail.

Lyon made a dream debut in Galle in 2011 // Getty

Boasting figures of 5-34, Lyon was the 30th Australian to grab a bag of five on debut and the first since another off-spinner - Jason Krejza - achieved the feat three years earlier.

For a man with just five first-class matches to his name, who knew more about how to prepare an international pitch than how to bowl on one, it was an incredible performance.

A dream start to a career that shows no signs of slowing down.

Delhi, 2013 7-94 v India

Like most foreign spinners on Indian soil, Lyon was targeted by the home side’s star-studded batting line-up in a tough initiation to life in the cricket-mad nation.

The spinner sent down more than 50 overs for the match and took four wickets, but they cost him almost 250 runs and - more importantly - his place in the side.

Unceremoniously dumped for the second Test, Lyon found the going tough again when recalled for the third match in Mohali and again leaked runs at an expensive rate.

Crouching Lyon: the offspinner was dropped twice in 2013 // Getty Images

But in favourable conditions in the final Test in Delhi, Lyon roared.

The Indians attacked him still, but this time the spinner balanced his soaring run tally with multiple breakthroughs. Figures of 7-94 remain his best analysis in Test matches.

After a torrid tour that saw him dropped by selectors and attacked at every turn, the manner in which he responded gave a glimpse of what he's made of.

Durham, 2013 4-42 v England

Just like he did in Delhi five months earlier, Lyon returned to his best in his second match back in the side following a surprise axing.

The offie had managed just a single wicket at Old Trafford in his return to the Test XI in place of Ashton Agar, after the left-armer had been handed the spin role in a Trent Bridge debut made spectacular by his batting.

But having been dropped twice already that year, Lyon was determined to prove his worth to his captain, coach and selectors.

England were riding the wave of a 2-0 series lead when Alastair Cook elected to bat first at Chester-le-Street and the urn was in their control when they crept to 1-107 midway through the afternoon session.

Lyon appeals for a wicket on the opening day of the fourth Test // Getty Images

Enter Lyon, who did what his fast-bowling comrades had been unable to do on a frustrating morning - prise open England's middle order.

Bowling predominantly around the wicket, he first had the well-set Jonathan Trott caught at short leg and the wickets of Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell - England's middle-order rocks - soon followed.

He added the scalp of Jonny Bairstow to finish with a bag of four and help the tourists bowl out the home side for 238.

Lyon had solidified his place, at least for now.

And two-and-a-half years later, he's barely missed another Test match.

Melbourne, 2013 5-50 v England

Australia's triumvirate of quicks led the way in destroying England in the 2013-14 Ashes, but Lyon's impact on the series cannot be underestimated.

Of the record-breaking 37 wickets that man-of-the-series Mitchell Johnson took in five Tests, more than half of them came when bowling in tandem with Lyon.

And the five major collapses England suffered during the series - one in each Test - came when the left-armer and off-spinner were bowling in tandem.

While Johnson was the destroyer on most occasions, day three of Boxing Day Test belonged to Lyon.

Having claimed an unlikely first-innings lead of 51, the tourists were effectively 1-137 midway through the afternoon session before a collapse of 9-93 basically handed the Aussies a 4-0 series lead.

WATCH: Lyon takes his maiden five-wicket haul in Australia

Lyon didn't trigger the collapse on this occasion, but he finally earned a boost to his wickets column after a series of hard and valuable toil.

He ripped through the middle order to claim his fourth career five-wicket haul and surpass 100 Test wickets in the process.

In a year in which he was collared by India's batsmen and twice dropped from the Test side, becoming the first Australian off-spinner in three decades to reach his century - and to do so in an Ashes whitewash - was a well-deserved reward.

Adelaide, 2014 7-152 v India

For the briefest of moments on December 13 last year, Nathan Lyon's mind cast back to two summers previous and one of the most disappointing days of what was then still a fledgling Test career.

Needing six wickets on the final day to beat South Africa and claim a one-nil series lead, Australia managed only four as the Proteas escaped with a draw that would propel them to a famous series win.

As the frontline spinner in the side, Lyon - unfairly or not - bore the brunt of the public blame having taken three wickets from 50 overs.

And two years later, bowling predominantly from the very same River End at the Adelaide Oval, memories of that match came flooding back into Lyon's mind.

The Inner Circle: When Lyon roared In this Optus Sport exclusive, Nathan Lyon reflects on his role in one of the Australian Cricket Team's most famous victories. Posted by cricket.com.au on Wednesday, November 25, 2015

With India seemingly cruising towards an unlikely victory target of 364 and Lyon with just one wicket from 25 overs, the spinner had the briefest moment of self-doubt.

"I did think 'oh no, is this happening again?' for a split second, but I had to flick those thoughts away," he told cricket.com.au in October.

"If I got stuck on 'oh no, here we go again', I wouldn't have been able to be consistent enough with my bowling to keep the pressure on those guys.

"They had an unbelievable innings between Virat (Kohli) and (Murali) Vijay ... they were cruising, they were doing it pretty easy. They were two down and everything seemed to be going their way, no appeals were being given out our way, and there were not many chances being created.

"I was lucky enough to crack that one when Vijay was on 99, and lucky enough they finally gave an lbw out."

WATCH: Lyon's final day heroics, as they happened

Then, in Lyon's words, it just snowballed.

In a touch over 90 minutes of play, India lost their final eight wickets for 73 runs to lose the match by 48.

Lyon was the star, picking up six wickets in 10 overs to finish with seven for the innings and 12 for the match.

In an emotional victory that came just a week after the Australians had said their final farewells to Phillip Hughes, Adelaide 2014 was undoubtedly Lyon's crowning moment.

Not only had he won a Test match for his country, he'd emphatically silenced the ghosts of 2012.