Batting first, the Indians had five half-centurions, and though only Ajinkya Rahane of them retired out, they put up only a moderate 358. In reply, the local side, which had only D’Arcy Short among its ranks among capped players, scored 544. Murali Vijay’s century then helped the visitors finish on 211/2 in their second hit.

“Conceding 500 runs in a warm-up game doesn’t mean anything. We are not very much worried about it. Our bowlers know what they have to do … they know what lines and lengths to bowl in Australia,” said Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored 54 in the first innings before being bowled by medium pacer Luke Robins.

India have won just five Test matches in Australia over the years, and never a series. With Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft all out serving their bans for ball-tampering, many feel this is India’s best chance of winning a series Down Under.

“Being the No.1 Test team, we always look to win each and every series and this is no different. We definitely want to win the series, but one Test match at a time,” said Pujara.

“In India, we have been doing really well but whenever we travel overseas there is always an extra motivation to do well. And we have been playing good cricket outside of India now and this is a very good opportunity for the team to perform well.”