Teamwork is the hallmark of this Indian team

Top-notch camaraderie among teammates has been the norm for Team India. Every team member seems to gun for a single cause — an Indian win. On December 18, when K L Rahul completed his century, Indian skipper was the first to acknowledge it when he raised his bat in appreciation and warned the Indian opener not to start celebrating before the ball was dead. 

Kohli was again in the thick of things, when he looked shell-shocked after Rahul played an ordinary shot on 199 and walked back after being denied a maiden double hundred. Rahul said the players enjoy an excellent chemistry. “Everybody in the team enjoys each other’s success. All of us want each other to do well. We are always pushing each other to get the better on the field and off the field too, like helping each other out in the nets or in the gym. That’s why I think we are the No. 1 team in the world. All youngsters and the senior players want to go together and work for each other and be happy about each other’s success,” Rahul added. 

The Mangalore-born batsman said the captain leads by example. “Virat, being the leader, sets a great example. You’ll see if somebody gets a hundred or if somebody takes a great catch or somebody gets a wicket, he feels more excited than the player who has got a hundred or a wicket. That’s how the atmosphere in the dressing room is right now. We’re enjoying the success as a team and individual successes as well,” Rahul said. 

The show of friendship was evident on Monday morning too when Murali Vijay cautioned Karun Nair in Tamil, when the Karnataka batsman was on 99, by saying ‘avangale poduvaaga’, translating and meaning ‘They will give you, don’t try anything out of the box’ to help his partner not to miss out on a milestone. When Karun left a couple of balls outside the off-stump, Vijay applauded his partner’s patience and when the moment to celebrate came, the senior pro put his arms around his junior’s shoulders and embraced him. 

Earlier, in the morning before the game had commenced, Cheteshwar Pujara had a lengthy net session under the watchful eyes of batting coach Sanjay Bangar. He was soon joined by Ishant Sharma who took some throw-downs. Pujara had earlier said a change in the way he had been thinking had worked wonders for him. “I haven’t changed much with technique. I had a chat with coach Anil Kumble after the West Indies tour and during the New Zealand tour and I realised it was all about the intent,” he said during the series.