Kohli’s boys push refresh button at Western Ghats

NEWDELHI: India cricketers went for a hike in the Western Ghats, most probably to take their minds off one of their worst defeats at home suffered last week. Australia beat India by 333 runs in Pune to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match Test series.

The second Test begins in Bengaluru on Saturday but since the first Test ended within three days, the players utilised the extra time to give themselves a break. On Monday, India captain Virat Kohli posted a picture of him, dressed in a tee and shorts with a backpack, sitting on top of a mountain with a beautiful view of the range as the backdrop.

Soaking in the idyllic beauty can make anyone revitalised and the same was apparent in Kohli’s tweet, “Everyday is a blessing and an opportunity. Be grateful and keep moving ahead.”

Ravichandran Ashwin, who didn’t have the best outing in the Pune Test, was seen with statemate Abhinav Mukund in a picture posted on his Instagram account with a simple caption of ‘Trekking!’.

Ajinkya Rahane posted a picture with wife Radhika in the backdrop of a sunset. Pacer Umesh Yadav’s wife Tanya posted pictures of their outing too.

But probably the most popular Instagram post of the day was that of Ravindra Jadeja holding the Indian flag atop a mountain.

He tagged his location as Tamhini Ghat trek, around 80km from Pune.

Jadeja also used the hash tag ‘teamactivity’, suggesting that this was a planned trip by the team. Given how the first Test had transpired for India, this team activity could be just the thing they needed before preparing afresh for Bengaluru’s assault.