Under Mohammad Azharuddin’s captaincy too, India had a tough time with the bat during the 1991-92 tour of Australia, losing the five-Test series 4-0. But in none of those matches did they suffer the ignominy of getting bundled out for less than a three-figure mark.

December 19, 2020, when India were dismissed for 36 in their second innings in the Adelaide Test, therefore, is a date the Indian cricket fraternity would want to forget.

The only way for Team India now is to move on and look forward, and take the Boxing Day Test head-on with a positive mindset as that’s the best way to bounce back in this series, Azharuddin emphasised.

“I would tell the guys to forget what happened (in Adelaide) and take fresh guard. Just chuck them out of your minds. Brooding won’t help you recover from the past, you have to look at the future now.

“Whatever experience they had in that game was minimum and not good at all, so they just need to be positive and focus on playing the way they have played in the past that took them to the No.1 spot in Test rankings,” Azharuddin, who was in the city for a private function, told The Telegraph in a brief interaction on Sunday night.

From the second Test onwards, both teams will be back playing with the red ball, while the MCG pitch too could be better for batsmen, he said.

“The MCG wicket may well be a good one, a better wicket for batsmen. In Adelaide, the nature of the wicket changed a fair bit actually. It did have pace and bounce with some swing from Day I, but looked good overall for batting.

“It’s from the second day onwards that batting became really tough out there,” said the former captain who is currently president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association.

“I’m sure it must have been very difficult for our batsmen with the pink ball because they haven’t played much with it. They played just one Test and a practice game with it (before the Adelaide Test), but that wasn’t enough. So, making that adjustment isn’t at all easy, rather it was tough for both teams.

“I’m a bit conservative in this regard and not too fond of playing with the pink ball,” Azharuddin added.

India may effect several changes in their line-up for the second Test starting Saturday.

“Shubman Gill and KL Rahul can be tried out as openers. Rahul, in fact, has opened in the past also. I think they will make a change in the opening slot. 100 per cent,” said Azharuddin, who led India in 47 Tests.