Bangalore Test: India get down to team bonding

BENGALURU: There were no sullen faces or downcast eyes. The defeat against Australia has hurt, but Virat Kohli and his men appear to have absorbed the blow and are preparing to land one right back in their next challenge - the second Test here on Saturday.

As Australia turned out in full force for an optional training session in the afternoon, the Indian team sweated it out for over three hours at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in a marathon session that began in the morning on Wednesday. The emphasis was on close-in fielding drills and batting sessions. Understandably, there were also long inspections of the grass-laced pitch.

With Australia wrapping up the opening Test with two days to spare in Pune, the Indians had time on hand which they spent by trekking near Pune. An Indian defeat has been so rare in recent times that the loss in Pune has been a bit of a shock. But it is not the first time Kohli & Co have ended on the losing side in the opening Test - they lost the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle in August 2015. The 63-run loss was followed by thumping wins in the next two Tests as India wrapped up the series 2-1.

When asked if there was any similarity between the two situations, opener Murali Vijay pointed out, "Definitely. We have to think about our game and put it in the open in the team meetings. That's what we have done in the last couple of games. Hopefully we can start with a positive frame of mind from ball one."

The Chennai player added that the team activity earlier this week, which included a trek, was a refreshing break for the Men in Blue. "Team bonding activities gets you closer as a team. We have been on the road for a while now so obviously such activities help any team. We wanted to get out of the normal things we do and go out there and get some fresh air. It was fun."

On ironing out the rough edges in their game, especially fielding after a string of dropped catches in Pune, Vijay said: "We had a chat about it and we are working on areas where we could do much better. We are looking forward to this game and hopefully we can pull of those catches."

The batsman also admitted the team gave away more runs than they expected to in the first innings. "We gave away more than what we had expected. From there on it was always going to be tough for us to get into the game. We had the opportunities and had we grabbed those we could have put pressure on the Australians. Unfortunately it didn't and we have got to take it on the chin and move forward."

Asked if the momentum had shifted towards Australia, Vijay replied in the negative. "Not really. We are eager to start fresh and put the pressure back on the Australians. It is a good test of character and it is going to be a good challenge for us. That's what we are playing cricket for. Hopefully we can play the way we have to and have played before. That's going to help us."