Ploy against Rahane worked, says Nathan

dharamsala — Terming it an “unbelievable feeling” to keep the deciding Test match open after two days, Australia offspinner Nathan Lyon revealed how stopping Ajinkya Rahane from playing the sweep shot helped him dismiss the India captain on Sunday.

It was variation in speed and coming over the wicket to stop Rahane that did the trick, according to Lyon, who ended with four wickets in the final session of the second day.

“It was a bit of a tactic. If you looked at the way the Indians have been playing me, especially Ajinkya, he has been sweeping me a lot. My plan was to come over the wicket and try and get him not to sweep me so that I can I can bring my stock ball to be more effective. It worked well. I spoke to Steve Smith about that at tea and was happy with the way it came out in the end,” Lyon said explaining his strategy.

For Lyon, it is a big credit that Indians are under pressure going into the final three days of the series. “I reckon it is an unbelievable feeling to be pretty evenly poised after day two. I know we probably left a few run out there but to have India 240 for 6 odd after a pretty good day in the field, I am quite happy to be honest. Coming over here, everyone wrote us off and to be in this position in the last Test, one-all and pressure slightly on India is fantastic,” he said.

The wicket has not changed much according to Lyon even though the bounce off the pitch has been of help.

“As the day progressed, it started to show a little bit more variations with bounce and spin, but I don’t think it has changed too much. As Australian bowlers, I was pretty proud of all of us out there. It’s hard work playing cricket over here but I thought the way we went about it and bowled well in partnerships and tried to dot them up and tried to build pressure on India was fantastic.”

The bounce that was on offer made him feel that he is closer home. “After bowling a couple of overs before lunch, I sat down and thought about what it (pitch) is similar to and it was closer to a home wicket where I can try and generate the bounce.” — PTI

My plan was to come over the wicket and try and get him (Rahan) not to sweep me Nathan Lyon