Virat Kohli and Indian team go treasure hunting in Western Ghats: Watch video

Taking a break from the usual training sessions, India cricket team went trekking and tried some team bonding exercises ahead of the Bangalore Test

India may have lost the Pune Test in three days but the quality time they spent away from cricket in the next two could well be a turning point in this Test series. Taking a break from their white flannels, the India cricket team, some players accompanied by their wives, went on a short trek with the Tricolour that was encapsulated in a video shared by the BCCI.

Team bonding activities are part and parcel of the manual of India cricket team coach Anil Kumble (centre), who was seen lugging around his camera on the trek.(BCCI Twitter)

The players were seen taking a bus ride to a resort in the Western Ghats where they were first briefed about the impending team activity. The team activity not only involved a trek but also a treasure hunt, as revealed by Cheteshwar Pujara in the video.

We drove from our hotel. It has been a one and half hour drive from our hotel for a team activity. We got together here. We saw a beautiful sunset, close to the nature. We are at Garudmachi and we are going to have a treasure hunt in a while. We are all enjoying here and having a wonderful time,” said Pujara.

The mood was light, cheery and it didn’t look like a team that had been drubbed only few days ago. “Everybody had a great time trekking,” said Murali Vijay.

Team bonding activities are part and parcel of the coaching manual of Anil Kumble, who was seen lugging around his camera on the trek. Last year before the team went on the tour of the West Indies, Kumble had arranged a team bonding session that involved drums.

Apart from that he had also arranged a session where seniors paired with juniors to share their life lessons with them. But so far the sessions were largely indoors. The most recent team activity however showed that when Kumble is around, the India team can be in for a refreshing change of pace once in a while.