India captain Sourav Ganguly was dejected after his side's 217-run defeat to Australia in the first Test on Sunday, but pinned his hopes on recent history.

"We can comeback, there is lot of cricket left in the series," said Ganguly, referring to the 2001 series in India which they won 2-1 after losing the first Test by 10 wickets.

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 (55) with his first Test fifty showed any decent resistance.

"Some of us got good starts, but we failed to convert them," said Ganguly. "We need to get our acts together and put runs on the board."

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Ganguly was hopeful that off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who took 11 wickets on his comeback from a long injury lay-off, will be even more effective in the remaining three Tests.

"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."

Ganguly is also hopeful that batsman Sachin Tendulkar will return from an elbow injury for the next Test starting in Madras on Thursday.

Tendulkar missed the first Test because of the injury that has sidelined him since August.