Travis Head responds to dressing room rift after defeat in first India Test

Australian batter Travis Head has responded to the reports of a rift between the players after the hosts suffered a crushing defeat in the first AUS v IND game.

Several including former England captain Michael Vaughan, and former Indian captain Ravi Shastri asserted that there was a rift between the players when fast bowler Josh Hazlewood’s comment went viral on social media.

Day 3 of the first AUS v IND game saw India declaring on 6-487 with Australia needing 522 to win the game.

Following the day’s play, Josh Hazlewood was asked about how the team planned to approach the game given the mammoth target.

Hazlewood responded by saying, “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.”

His viral comment left the former cricketers speculating that there was a division in Australia’s dressing room.

Australia’s batter Travis Head has now refuted such reports, saying that Josh Hazlewood’s comment was the result of a poor week.

“I think (people have) picked the bones out of a comment on the back of a poor week, which is fine. It’s OK to be critical, we understand that. We stuck together, had some good conversations, definitely no fractions. All the boys hung out together last night,” he added.

Meanwhile, Travis Head admitted that the home side was not at their best during the first AUS v IND game. However, he expressed hope that the team would bounce back in the next game.

“We play the pink ball well traditionally there and look we’re going to have to. There’s no hiding behind that, we’ve got to play better. Nothing’s guaranteed in this game, but if we work hard, no reason why we can’t turn it around,” the Australian batter said.