Australian team's 'unity' under question as Hazlewood seemingly blames batters for Perth loss

Former cricketers Ravi Shastri and Michael Vaughan raised questions on 'unity' within the Australian team after pacer Josh Hazlewood seemed to shift the blame for the loss against India at Perth to batters. Following Australia's shocking 295-run loss to India at Perth's Optus Stadium, which was Australia's first-ever loss in Tests at the venue, Hazlewood said as quoted by Wisden, "You probably have to ask one of the batters that question probably, I am sort of relaxing and trying to get a bit of treatment and I am looking mostly to next Test."

Recently retired Aussie star David Warner, who is a part of the commentary, called Hazlewood's comments 'unwarranted,' saying, "I think as a senior player you have a duty of care when you are representing the team to have something the batters want to get across, all the batters are thinking about going out and batting," Warner said.

"There is not a lot of runs in that changeroom at the moment, but to have the support from a senior bowler, those comments probably were not warranted," he added.

Vaughan also raised doubts over a possible divide in the team's dressing room, saying that he has not heard anything like this ever from an Australian.

"Publicly, I have never heard an Australian come out and divide the camp into batters and bowlers. There is 11 batters, that will never change, every player has to bat. There is two days to go in the Test match, it is a long shot for Australia to get anything out of this game," Vaughan said.

"But to publicly see a player say...I am thinking about the next game before this game is finished, I have been in many teams and I get it. You do get the batters and you do get the bowlers... but you can see there is a bit of grumpiness there, but to publicly come out and say that, I have never seen that from an Australian."

"Any player around the globe, but particularly an Australian... I always look at the small details in every team... the togetherness and the lack of spirit in the outfield, you do not say that often about Australia," he concluded.

Former Indian head coach Shastri also seemed to agree with Vaughan and said that visitors enjoy an upper hand over Aussies mentally, saying, "What the Indian dressing room are thinking when they hear something like that, they know there are some cracks on the pitch but there are some mental cracks as well."

"Having come to Australia for 30 or 40 years, this is the first time an Indian team is feeling, 'you know what, we are better than the opposition in their own backyard. Quietly they will be thinking 'we will have to lose it here'," Shastri added.

In the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first. However, they were dismissed for just 150 runs, with Nitish Kumar Reddy (41 off 59 balls, six fours and a six) and Rishabh Pant (37 off 78 balls, three fours and a six) playing crucial knocks and adding a vital 48-run partnership for the sixth wicket.

Josh Hazlewood (4/29) was the standout bowler for Australia, with Pat Cummins, Mitchell Marsh, and Mitchell Starc claiming two wickets each. Australia's reply was even worse, as they were reduced to 79/9 before Mitchell Starc (26) and Alex Carey (21) took the total to 104, giving India a slender lead of 46 runs. Jasprit Bumrah starred for India with figures of 5/30 in 18 overs, while debutant Harshit Rana impressed with 3/48.

In second innings, India amassed a massive lead. KL Rahul (77 off 176 balls, five fours) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (161 off 297 balls, 15 fours and three sixes) put up a 201-run opening partnership. Despite losing quick wickets, an unbeaten 100 by Virat Kohli (143 balls, eight fours and two sixes), supported by Washington Sundar (29 off 94 balls, one six) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (38* off 27 balls, three fours and two sixes), propelled India to 487/6 declared, setting Australia a daunting target of 534 runs. Nathan Lyon (2/96) was the best bowler for Australia, with Cummins, Starc, and Hazlewood taking one wicket each.

At stumps on Day 3, Australia were 12/3, with Bumrah taking two wickets and Mohammed Siraj one. On Day 4, despite valiant efforts from Travis Head (89 off 101 balls, eight fours) and Mitchell Marsh (47 off 67 balls, three fours and two sixes), Australia were bowled out for 238, giving India a resounding 295-run victory.

Bumrah (3/42) and Siraj (3/51) led the bowling in the second innings, while Washington Sundar took two wickets, and Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana picked one each. Stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah was named 'Player of the Match' for his eight wickets in the game. (ANI)