New Delhi: Australia skipper Pat Cummins insisted their is no dissent in the team after murmurs of dressing room division surfaced following their 295-run defeat in the first Test at Perth on Monday.
Australia crashed to their biggest defeat on their home soil against India to trail 0-1 in the five match series.
Rumours of tension within the unit emerged after pacer Josh Hazlewood’s response to Australia’s batting failure, getting bowled out for 104 in the first innings.
“You probably have to ask one of the batters that question. I’m sort of relaxing and trying to get a bit of physio and a bit of treatment, and I’m probably looking mostly towards the next Test and what plans we can do against these batters,” Hazlwood had said on Sunday.
But Cummins pour cold water over any potential flame within the camp, saying that since the players have been together for a long time and enjoy the camaraderie.
“I don’t know what Joshy (Hazlewood) said, but no, not at all (division). There’s plenty of times where the batters have dragged us bowlers out of tight situations, and we’ve done the same. So it’s a really tight unit. It’s probably one of the tightest teams I’ve ever played with,” Cummins said on Monday after their loss.
“We really enjoy playing cricket together. We’ve been through a lot over the last few years, the core group. So no problems there. Everyone gets along really well. So all good.”
Potential division
After Hazlewood’s comments, former Australia keeper Adam Gilchrist and ex-England skipper Michael Vaughan felt the Australian team had a division between batters and bowlers.
“That to me tells me there is potentially a divided change room. I don’t know if there is. I might be reading too much into that,” Gilchrist told Fox Cricket.
“I must admit, I’m staggered by that. Josh Hazlewood is a great bowler, terrific team member. Publicly, I’ve never heard an Australian come out and kind of divide the camp into batters and bowlers,” Vaughan said.
But recently retired Australia opener David Warner defended Hazlewood, saying: “Those comments (from Hazlewood) probably weren’t warranted, [but] I don’t think there is a divide,” the left hander told Fox Cricket.
“In the England team, Broady [Stuart Broad] or Jimmy [Anderson] might have come off after a long day and you can start pointing fingers, but I don’t think there is a divide.”
Murmurs of dressing room division surfaced following Australia’s 295-run defeat against India in the first Test at Perth on Monday. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
