Cricket

Besides Virat Kohli, wary Australia plan to stop Rohit Sharma

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BRISBANE: Trap him in front of the stumps with a sharp inswinger or test him with a short ball: These could be the tactics employed by Australia against dangerous India opener Rohit Sharma, says pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile.

Besides India captain Virat Kohli, Rohit is another batsmen that could give the home team plenty of headache in the limited-overs leg of the series beginning Wednesday.

"He's an unbelievable player. His record speaks for itself. He's got a good record all around the world, so he's a definite player to watch," Coulter-Nile said at the Gabba on Monday.

"But we've also had a bit of success against him with the new ball as well - I think 'Dorff' (Jason Behrendorff) got him out last time we played him - rapped him on the pads - so we'll look to do that again early."

Coulter-Nile also fancies bowling short to Rohit, who has an impressive record in Australia and has scored 810 runs at an average of 62.31 in the last eight years.

Left-arm pacer Behrendorff could be Australia's trump card as he had troubled the Indians with a sensational spell of four for 21 in a T20 played in Guwahati last year.

He had sent back the Indian top-four including Rohit and Kohli.

"Everyone knows he's a fantastic option up front. He'll swing it here - it's beautiful conditions for it today, hopefully same sort of conditions (on Wednesday), it'll swing early.  Hopefully we hold our chances, because he'll definitely create a few," added Coulter-Nile.

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