Grit, Discipline, & Planning: Sachin Tendulkar's Mantra For India's Success

The Indian cricket team can stage a comeback in the Test series against Australia after the first Test reversal by sticking to the golden mantra of "grit, discipline, and planning" and making fine adjustments needed for success, says cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar.

India trail 0-1 in the four-match series after losing the day-night opening Test by eight wickets in Adelaide. The second Test starts on December 26 in Melbourne.

"The strategy should be simple: you score more runs and don't allow them to score more than you. One will have to be gritty in the next three Tests. It's going to be a combination of grit, discipline, and planning. We have to plan, then we've to show grit, and we should be able to execute our plans," Tendulkar told IANS in an exclusive interview.

Tendulkar, 47, also suggested that the Indian team should stick to its routine preparation instead of making drastic changes.

"I would say they should stick to their routine, which has brought them to this level and given them a lot of success. Suddenly, you can't change all those things. It's just those finer adjustments that are needed to be successful, otherwise it becomes more and more challenging. And that depends on which part of the world you are playing in," said the master batsman who always meticulously prepared during his 25-year first-class/international career.

Tendulkar said a good performance in the second Test in Melbourne would quickly make the players' mindset positive.

"These kinds of performances [defeat in the first Test] are a big disappointment, without any doubt. It's not easy to overcome this and get on with the next game. People might say 'one bad performance', but performances like these stay with you as players," he averred.

"I would say that the only way is to fight it out in the next match, do something magnificent that changes your thinking. Only a good performance is going to help you overcome this disappointment. The juices inside your body would be also positive after that."

The last three Test matches will be played with the red ball and under natural sunlight, unlike the floodlit first game at the Adelaide Oval.

The Indian team hasn't announced its playing XI so far while Australia on Thursday retained the same team that won the first Test inside three days.

Ajinkya Rahane will step in as captain for Virat Kohli who has returned to India to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.

India had made history on their last tour of Australia in 2018-19 when Kohli's boys won the four-match series 2-1.