Ajinkya Rahane has been a hard nut to crack for Australia, but spinner Nathan Lyon has a new set of plans for the India skipper in the upcoming third Test in Sydney.
India folded up for 36 in the second innings of the pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval to hand Australia the first Test, but the Rahane-led side came out all guns blazing and won the second Test at the MCG in the absence of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, and Mohammad Shami.
Rahane had stepped up on the occasion as he played a match-winning knock of 112 in the first innings and then hit the winning runs in the second essay to hand India a memorable Boxing Day Test win.
In the ongoing Test series, Lyon has failed to keep a check on Rahane, but the spinner has now churned out his plans for the remaining two Test.
"I think Rahane played me extremely well in Melbourne so I know I have already come up with a couple of different plans for him and a few different guys, so I am looking forward to putting them in place," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Lyon as saying.
Lyon was impressed with Rahane's composure and praised the "calm and collected batter" for standing up as a leader in Kohli's absence.
"He is, obviously, a world-class batter which, obviously, helps with everything. I think his patience that he shows out in the crease, he doesn't seem to get flustered too much," said Lyon.
"He doesn't buy into any sledging or any conversation out there in the middle. He is a pretty calm and collected batter. He is standing up [as a leader] at the moment so I know we will have our plans ready to, hopefully, combat him come the SCG Test," he added.
Earlier, Team India players rounded off what was one of the toughest weekends for them on Australian soil on this tour by testing negative for the coronavirus with results coming in on Monday morning.
The third Test between India and Australia will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, starting from January 7.
( With inputs from ANI )
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