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India captain Sourav Ganguly refused to be downhearted after his side suffered a 217-run first Test loss to Australia.

Ganguly could at least take heart from the display of his tailenders, who helped rescue the hosts from 19-4 to reach 239 in their second innings.

"The boys are keen to get back into the series," said Ganguly.

The India captain admitted: "We did not bat well at all and need to lift our game. The good thing is that the team is fired-up to come back strongly."

We need to get our act together and put runs on the board Sourav Ganguly

Australia's fast bowlers shared 15 wickets on a slow pitch to undermine India's strong top-order in both innings.

Only Rahul Dravid, top-scorer with 60 in the second innings, and tail-ender Irfan Pathan, who scored a maiden Test half-century, showed any strong resistance.

"Some of us got good starts, but we failed to convert them," said Ganguly.

"We need to get our act together and put runs on the board."

Ganguly predicted off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who took 11 wickets on his Test return from a long injury lay-off, will be even more effective in the remaining three matches.

"He has taken 40-odd wickets in his last four Tests against Australia," he said. "Those are huge numbers.

"The Madras, Nagpur and Bombay pitches will have lot of bounce. That is going to give him a lot of help."

Star batsman Sachin Tendulkar hopes to recover from tennis elbow in time for the second Test, which starts on Thursday.

Ganguly added: "We hope he gets fit before the Madras Test. He is going to have a net when we reach there."