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The likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Adam Gilchrist and Michael Vaughan have claimed that everything doesn’t look well in the Australian dressing room.
Pat Cummins-led Australia are trailing 0-1 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. (AFP Photo)
Josh Hazlewood’s seemingly innocuous remarks while responding to a query from a journalist after the end of the third day’s play of the Perth Test between India and Australia have snowballed into a controversy. The likes of Adam Gilchrist, Michael Vaughan posed serious questions based on Hazelwood’s comments and wondered it there’s a divide between batters and the bowlers in the Australian dressing room.
With India taking a big lead in their second innings of the Perth Test, Hazlewood was asked how the Australian batters plan to chase that down.
“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,” Hazlewood had said.
Hazlewood was later said to have picked up an injury which forced him out from the second Test in Adelaide where Scott Boland will take his place in the playing XI.
On the eve of the pink-ball Test, Australia captain Pat Cummins has shut down rumours of a rift in his team.
“The team’s great. Some of the commentators got that 100 per cent wrong. We’ve prepared like we always do and get around each other. It’s a great feeling around the team. We don’t make too much of it,” Cummins told reporters on Thursday.
“When things don’t go right, there’s enough commentators that will support you but also some that will, of course, create some headlines. We try not to take too much notice of it. We just go about our things,” he added.
Australia legend Gilchrist had said Hazlewood’s comments give a hint that there’s something not right with the dressing room.
“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 had said on Fox Cricket.
Former England Vaughan’s chimed in expressing shock at Hazlewood dividing bowlers and batters into different camps.
“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.
- Location :
Adelaide (Australia)
