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India captain Virat Kohli left Australian shores on Tuesday after a pep talk to his beleaguered teammates, handing over the mantle of leading the side to Ajinkya Rahane in the remaining three Tests.
Kohli is returning to India to attend the birth of his first child in January.
Before boarding the flight back home, Kohli encouraged his boys to give their all in the remainder of the series, which the visitors trail 0-1 after the heavy defeat in the opening Test.
Positive frame of mind
The idea behind organising the pep talk was to keep the players in a positive frame of mind heading into the crucial Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
India lost the lung-opener here inside three days after crumbling to their lowest Test score of 36. The second Test is scheduled to be held at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground from December 26-30. Kohli, who has been leading the Test team since 2014, urged his players to show intent and express themselves on the field without any inhibitions. While Kohli has departed for India, his white-ball deputy Rohit Sharma is quarantining in Sydney.
Kohli was India’s best performer with the bat in the series opener, top-scoring with a sedate 74 in the first innings before being run out following a misunderstanding with Rahane.
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