The plan to tame the Australians in their own den was hatched as early as in July last year when head coach Ravi Shastri spoke to bowling coach Bharat Arun.

The strategy was simple: Have a strong leg side field and bowl in the straight line so that the Australian batsmen don’t get an opportunity to score through the off side.

Their hard work and meticulous planning paid off, as India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, defeating the home team 2-1 in the four-Test series.

“Ravi Shastri called me sometime in July... He said ‘I want you to make a plan where we can eliminate their offside’. We had our own analysis and we felt that most of the runs that Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne scored were because of cut, pull and on the off side,” Arun said during a media interaction on Friday evening.

“We took a cue from the New Zealand attack. When they bowled to Smith, they just attacked his body and he felt very uncomfortable.

“We thought about it and decided that we will attack more on the straighter lines and have an on side field. It becomes very difficult for the batsman to consistently clear the on side field. That worked for us.

“The thought process started sometime in July and then when we discussed it with Virat (Kohli), he bought the theory. We used the same thing in Adelaide and then Ajinkya (Rahane) was magnificent from Melbourne. The bowlers adjusted to that beautifully,” Arun explained.

Arun said his understanding with Shastri has helped in building their partnership.

“As a head coach, Ravi has been outstanding. He gives you the freedom to work and anyone in the support staff would tell you that he gives you a lot of freedom and you can express yourself. You have common goals for the team, but it is about how can I contribute to this goal,” he remarked.

“We have our arguments, showdowns. We totally disagree on things but at the end of the day, when we decide on something, we stick to it. We consult the captain and everyone and then come up with the strategy,” Arun said.

“It helps when you know someone for that long. It gets a lot easier to agree and also to disagree, which is important in any relation,” the bowling coach said.