Pat Cummins fires back at Test legend Adam Gilchrist as desperate Australians aim to rebound against Jasprit Bumrah and India in Adelaide

Talks of disharmony in the Australian sheds continue to mount following the first Test disaster against India, but skipper Pat Cummins is not having any of it.

Australia will enter their most important home Test under Cummins’ captaincy with just four genuine bowling options.

Down 1-0 after a 295-run mauling by India in Perth, Australia simply need to keep their perfect record in day-night Tests at Adelaide Oval alive to avoid a tough week turning into a bad summer.

Australia will seek to level the five-match series without Josh Hazlewood, who will miss due to a side strain.

But the omission of Hazelwood has raised suspicion from Australian cricket fans and commentators, with some suspecting he was axed because of his comments after the Perth loss, rather than through injury.

With Australia sitting in a precarious position at 3-12 at the end of day three, Hazlewood was asked how the team would approach the 534 run mountain set by India. 

‘You probably have to ask one of the batters that question,’ Hazlewood responded.

That led to claims there was division in the Aussie sheds, a claim that even former wicketkeeper batsman Adam Gilchrist suggest in commentary. 

‘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 said on Fox Cricket.

England champion and fellow commentator Michael Vaughan also found Hazelwood’s comment puzzling.  

‘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,’ he said.

But Cummins has fired back, insisting there was no division in the Aussie camp.  

‘The team’s great. Some of the commentators got that 100 per cent wrong,’ he said ahead of Friday’s crucial second Test in Adelaide.

‘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.

‘When things don’t go right, there are 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.’

That hasn’t stopped Aussie fans from fueling the fire, claiming Hazelwood was a ‘scapegoat’ for the Perth hammering.  

‘When a team gets shellacking like the one in first test there has to be tension in the team especially with the bowlers toiling all day in the heat and then the batsmen capitulating the way they did,’ one fan commented. 

‘Is Hazlewood seriously injured?? I mean just saw him bowling along with Pat Cummins in the nets,’ asked another.

‘When politics rears its head in sport, you can bet your bottom dollar that some deserving players will cop the blame and become the scapegoats,’ added another.

But Aussie batsman Travis Head has also moved to quash any suggestion of a dressing room divide. 

‘A lot of people are going to draw circumstances to a lot of things, I wouldn’t dive too much into that,’ he said.

‘We didn’t have a very good week. That’s fine. But we’ve got four more opportunities to do it.’