Bengaluru: India coach Anil Kumble urged his team to move on from the debacle in the opening Test against Australia as the hosts seek a series-levelling victory in the second match starting on Saturday.
On a raging turner in Pune, Australia triumphed by 333 runs inside three days, snapping India’s 19-test unbeaten run stretching back to their tour to Sri Lanka in 2015.
While Virat Kohli’s men won in Sri Lanka and West Indies, they also vanquished South Africa, New Zealand, England and Bangladesh for six straight series victories.
“You can’t keep winning every game. It has to come to an end at some point of time,” Kumble, 46, told reporters on Thursday.
“Twenty games in current scenario of Test cricket, it’s quite challenging for an international side to keep going out there and winning. That’s what this team has been able to do across conditions.
“We have adapted to various conditions and various situations and that’s what we didn’t do in the last game. That’s why the result didn’t go our way.” The former spinner, also India’s highest wicket-taker in tests, said Pune was just a blip in an otherwise bumper home season.
“I don’t want to look back. We are here to look ahead. As a coach it’s more important for me to look ahead,” said Kumble, who took over the coaching reins last year.
“It was one of those games where things didn’t go our way and we just need to move on. Another three Test matches in the series and we are really looking forward to that.
“We have had a fantastic home season and it’s just one of those games where things didn’t go our way.” Kumble said Australia were a quality opposition but India did not play to their potential.
Asked about the nature of pitch to be used for the second Test, the Bengaluru native said: “It’s generally been a good batting surface and I’m sure it’s going to be a result wicket.
“That’s exactly what we want in a Test match.”
Sachin Tendulkar, meanwhile, expects India to hit back hard.
“It was a tough Test match for us but it is part and parcel of the game ... Knowing the spirit of the Indian team I know that they will fight back hard,” said Tendulkar, who is Test cricket’s record run-scorer.
“There are good moments and there are tough moments but it is all about how you stand back on your feet again and start competing. That is what makes the sport interesting.”
While India are expected to make a couple of changes for Bengaluru, the visitors are likely to stick with their winning side.
The third and fourth Tests of the series will be in Ranchi and Dharamsala.
Squads
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya.
Australia: Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve O’Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade.
