Anything Lyon can do, Ashwin can do better

India opener KL Rahul has fired a warning Australia's way, suggesting off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will "run through" the tourists' batting order after his counterpart Nathan Lyon's record haul on the opening day of the second Test. 

Lyon snared 8-50 off 22.2 overs, the best-ever figures by a touring bowler in India, to help skittle the hosts for 189 in Bengaluru.

Rahul, who played a lone hand at the top of the order before falling 10 short of a fifth Test century, believes India's spin ace Ashwin, along with his sidekick Ravindra Jadeja, will be a handful for the tourists on a tricky M. Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch.

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"The cracks are opening up and it's only getting (more) difficult to bat on this wicket," the 24-year-old batsman, whose 90 made up close to half of India's first-innings total, told reporters after play.

"We know 'Ash' is a top class bowler and once he gets a couple of wickets and gets into that rhythm, then he is going to run through the Australian batting line-up, which we are very confident of.

"Jadeja didn't get to bowl a lot today but like Lyon, he too has a lot of rough to bowl on to the left-handers outside the off-side stump.

"If he can come in and bowl consistently on the rough, we will get a lot of wickets."

Ashwin picked up seven wickets in India's 333-run first match defeat but the International Cricket Council's top-ranked Test bowler was outshone by Australia left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe, who picked up 12-70 for the match.

In the lead-up to Australia's Qantas Tour of India, Lyon admitted he'd closely studied Ashwin's methods to prepare for the four-Test series.

Lyon became Australia's most prolific wicket-taker in Tests against India with his stunning eight-wicket haul, taking his tally to 58 scalps, surpassing former speedster Brett Lee's 53.

His spell even drew praise from Harbhajan Singh, the former Test tweaker who predicted the hosts would sweep Australia 4-0 in the series.

The provocative off-spinner tweeted he's "hoping" India can emulate Lyon's feats on the second day of the Test.

The 29-year-old's most telling blow was the vital wicket of Virat Kohli, who shouldered arms to a seemingly regulation off-break and was adjudged lbw. 

But Rahul praised the Australian's skill in deceiving the India captain, and said he exploited some rough on the wicket created by left-arm spearhead Mitchell Starc.

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"Virat's delivery didn't spin as much," he explained. "The whole over it was spinning and bouncing and that ball went straight, which can happen. 

"Our gameplan was to attack the spinners whenever we could but sometimes it just doesn't go your way. 

"(Lyon) was really consistent and kept putting the ball there (in the rough) and kept asking questions. 

"There's a big rough (patch) that Starc creates and we know Lyon bowls fast into the rough. 

"It can get a little difficult to play him if the balls starts spinning and bouncing."

"He got the rewards this innings. We'll see what we can do at the second innings, come hard at him and try to find a way to get him away."

And while Rahul said he was pleased with notching his second half-century in as many matches against Australia this series, he insisted he should take some responsibility for the downfall of some of his teammates.

"Nothing is satisfying," he stressed when asked if he was content with his effort. "I am happy that I can contribute and it's my responsibility, batting up the order, that I bat as long as I can in the middle and get as many runs as I can. 

"I am happy with both the innings and how I batted, but maybe we need to build more partnerships. 

"That becomes my responsibility also to tell the batsman coming in what kind of shots we can play and how we can hold on to (these) partnerships which didn't happen in Pune and here as well."

Test Squads

India (for first two Tests): Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandaran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya.

Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Stephen O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade

Australia's schedule in India

Feb 23-27, First Test, Pune

Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru

Mar 16-20, Third Test, Ranchi

Mar 25-29, Fourth Test, Dharamsala