File photo of Nathan Lyon (left) with Ajinkya Rahane.
Ajinkya Rahane's 112 in the Boxing Day Test victory will remain memorable for the Indian cricket fans for the sheer class the batsman executed against the world class bowling of the Aussies at their own den. Helping his side put over 300 on the board, Rahane leaked runs out of pacers and spinners alike while stitching a crucial 121-run stand for the sixth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja, who contributed with a half-century of his own.
Australia's sole regular spinner for the Test, Nathan Lyon acknowledged that Rahane got the better of him on the day and the 33-year-old off spinner has chalk out plans to deal with the stand-in Indian skipper.
"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, he doesn't buy into any sledging or any conversation out there in the middle. He is a pretty calm and collected batter," Lyon said.
"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."
"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," Lyon told reporters on Monday.
Lyon, who at the beginning of the series claimed they have the best bowling line-up in the world, exuded confidence in Oz bowling despite loss in the second Test saying there were plenty of positives they took from Melbourne.
"To be honest with you, I think we have been pretty happy with our bowling as a squad. To take 20 wickets quite quickly in Adelaide and then to be challenged a little bit in Melbourne and to stay there and keep creating chances was a positive, so we are very confident as a bowling group," he said.
