Border Gavaskar Trophy: Pat Cummins shuts down rift rumors in Australian team

The India vs Australia Test series is faring true to its nature down under. Just one match has been completed, and there have been ample instances for the fans and the cricket fraternity to gawk over. One of the main highlights following the conclusion of the first BGT Test in Perth was a speculated divide in the Australian dressing room. The rumors emerged after the ace Australian seamer, Josh Hazlewood, pushed the batters to the forefront as a reason for the defeat against the visitors in the first Border Gavaskar Trophy. Many known names from the fraternity, including former wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, sensed tension in the team. However, after days of the claims doing the rounds, Australian skipper Pat Cummins took it upon himself to put an end to the discussion.

Border Gavaskar Trophy: Pat Cummins brushes away the speculation of a divide in the Australian camp

Australia endured a heavy blow against India at the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth. India, playing without main picks like skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, trampled the hosts by 295 runs. In the first innings of the match, Josh Hazlewood turned up as the star for Australia as his four-wicket spell restricted India to a humbling total of 150 runs. However, the Kangaroos could not build on the momentum provided by the pacers.

As the turn came for India to bowl, India’s interim skipper, Jasprit Bumrah, rattled the batting lineup. With a fifer in his account and an impressive showing by debutant Harshit Rana, Australia was bundled out for a lowly 104 runs. The edge obtained by Bumrah was further aided by a match-winning opening partnership between KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Leaving the ghosts of the 0-3 defeat at home behind, India kicked off the Border Gavaskar Trophy in the best possible way.

However, the match’s conclusion witnessed a rather shocking statement by Josh Hazlewood. Facing the press, the seamer put the team’s batters in the puddle to reason with the heavy defeat. The senior Kangaroo pick, when queried about the elements that led to Australia going down against the visitors, directed the media to ask the question to the batters. Hazlewood’s statement suggested that the fall was for the batters to take. The pacer's take divided the team into two factions, a controversial move for a teammate to pull.

"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.

Many prominent names, like Sunil Gavaskar and former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, sensed a divide in the team. As part of the commentary panel of Fox Cricket, Gilchrist suggested that he might be over-analyzing the instance, but the statement by Hazlewood, to him, put the environment within the Australian camp in a bad light.

"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 noted.

Furthermore, the speculations gained fuel when Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the second Test. Ahead of the pink-ball match in Adelaide, it was informed that Hazlewood would not take the field against India due to an injury. While the reports claimed that the pacer had picked up a side strain, the onlookers gauged it as a mask to sideline Hazlewood from the BGT proceedings because of his statement.

However, right ahead of the start of the second Border Gavaskar Trophy Test, Australian skipper Pat Cummins categorically denied the rumors. Cummins was quick to denounce Gilchrist’s claim as he suggested that the "commentators" had understood it all wrong. In Hazlewood’s absence, Australia named Sean Abbott and Brendan Hoggett in the squad. However, Scott Boland earned the chance in the Playing XI for the Adelaide Test in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

"Yeah, look, the team's great. Some of the commentators got that 100 per cent wrong. So, the team's great, we have prepared like we always do, and get around each other. It's a great feeling around the team. So yeah, we don't make too much of it," Cummins said to clear the air about the rift in the Australian camp.