Claims of unrest within Indian cricket have intensified after it was revealed Test captain Rohit Sharma withdrew from speaking at Kirribilli House on Wednesday.
The bizarre event took place the same day a report in the Indian Express revealed a dressing room spray from team coach Gautam Gambhir following Monday’s loss to Australia in Melbourne.
India is on the verge of surrendering the prized Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time in eight years, and must win in Sydney this week to avoid doing so.
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They looked on track to salvage a draw at the MCG which would have squared the series at 1-1 heading to Sydney.
But a wild and dumfounding shot from the enigma Rishabh Pant kickstarted a collapse that led to Australia’s victory and the hosts taking a 2-1 series advantage.
Jasprit Bumrah and Gautam Gambhir in discussion. Getty
The Indian Express reports the players were put on blast by Gambhir following the match, with the coach allegedly proclaiming “I’ve had enough” and vowing to be harsher on players who failed to recognise match situations and play accordingly.
The report seems to have forced the Indian cricket divide even wider, with former Test player Irfan Pathan tweeting “what happens in the dressing room, should stay in the dressing room!”.
On New Year’s day, embattled captain Rohit was due to speak to the crowd of players and politicians at PM Anthony Albanese’s event, but was mysteriously replaced by coach Gambhir at the last minute with no explanation.
It’s added fuel to rumours there is a split within the camp, focusing on Rohit who is badly out of form with the bat and whose captaincy has left much to be desired on this tour.
It has been an incident-riddled tour for India.
Gambhir lit a fire before even flying Down Under when he took aim at Australian cricket icon Ricky Ponting, claiming he was not qualified to speak about Indian cricket.
The team’s superstar Virat Kohli was then involved in a verbal altercation with reporters in Melbourne when he thought his children were being filmed, which later was proven to be false.
The media department was then questioned for a bizarre press conference in which Australian journalists were not allowed to ask any questions of a player, and no questions or answers were given in English.
Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma. Getty
Kohli’s frustrations then boiled over in Melbourne when he rammed his shoulder into teenage debutant Sam Konstas for no apparent reason in the middle of the pitch.
Kohli was fined over the incident, although the punishment was blasted as insufficient given it was the same handed to his teammate Mohammad Siraj for a verbal send-off of Travis Head in Adelaide.
A split also emerged on Monday over the third umpire’s decision to dismiss Yashavi Jaiswal when the batter clearly gloved a Pat Cummins delivery to be caught behind.
Captain Rohit conceded the decision was correct, but Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar and then a BCCI vice president fuelled the social media cesspit by claiming the decision was wrong.
Add to that the mid-series retirement of superstar spin bowler Ravi Ashwin and it has certainly been a rollercoaster tour for an Indian side that’s on the verge of losing arguably its most prized piece of silverware.
Only a win in Sydney could soothe some of the unrest.
