Paine's 'babysitting' jibe at Pant during the Boxing Day Test had gone viral in the last series.
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In order to attend the birth of his first child, Kohli will return home after the series opener and won’t feature in the remaining three Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
"Everyone has got great plans against the best players...that is why they are best players because they can adapt. They can change what you are doing and Virat is certainly one of the best if not the best in the world. There are going to times when they do get away against you - there is just one Test hopefully he doesn't - but we have plans against him that have worked against him and hopefully they work against him. But if not then we have a couple of different plans," quoted Paine while speaking to reporters on Wednesday (December 16).
The Australian captain highlighted the variety in his team's bowling attack to mention that they can trouble India’s star-studded batting line-up.
"And again, the great thing with our attack is that they are all different. We have also got Nathan Lyon and throw in Greeny (Cameron Green) we have got different angles, different speeds, and also Mars (Marnus Labuschagne who bowls leg-spin) we have lots of different options to throw at him if he wants to get in and settle," Paine said.
"Starcy is good to go. He bowled quite quickly in the nets yesterday. He is in good shape, he had an unfortunate family situation going on, but we are thrilled to have him back in the squad. His pink ball record is absolutely outstanding. He is an absolute nightmare to face with the pink ball whether it is day or not. Again he is a huge asset to us. We are thrilled to have him back," he further remarked.
Unlike the white-ball series, fans expect a bit of banter and sledging between the two teams during the Test series.
Commenting on the same, Paine said while the hosts are not going to be overly aggressive, they would be ready to give it back to the Indians if there is a need for it.
"Yes in terms of what goes on the field, we will have to wait and see. Certainly, we don't go into planning to have run-ins or be overly aggressive or anything like that. We just go out there to execute our plans firstly with bat and ball, and at times things at the field can be... if that is the case, no doubt that this team won't be taking a backward step," he stated.
During the 2018-19 series, Tim Paine and Rishabh Pant had a sledging war. Both the wicketkeepers had a go at each whenever they were doing the keeping duties in the hard-fought Test series.
Among other things, Paine's 'babysitting' jibe at Pant during the Boxing Day Test went viral.
Recalling the incident, Paine said he wanted to distract Pant with that although the strategy will be different for other players.
"I think I just try and do what I think is the best at the time. The stuff that keeps getting replayed was just a friendly chat. My reading at that time was that he was a player we could distract into playing a loose shot. He is a sort of a one, happy relaxed guy. So yeah, that is the angle I took with him. But it won't be the same with everyone. I try and read the situation I am in at the time and try and adapt to that," said the Australia skipper.
(With IANS inputs)