On the first day of the new year, several reports surfaced claiming that there are cracks in the Indian dressing room. This came shortly after India’s 184-run defeat by Australia in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Head coach Gautam Gambhir is believed to have said, “Enough is enough (I’ve had enough) in his dressing room speech, with the dressing room atmosphere being ‘far from ideal’. Reacting to such news, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar said that all these stories are created by media to keep fans and their users busy. Backing up his opinion, he said that such stories come out only after India lose matches.

“Whenever the Indian team has not done well, these things (come up) about cracks and all that. It’s a common story. It’s almost like we people think the Indian team can’t lose. So if she loses, she has.” There is a reason other than cricket,” Gavaskar told India Today.

“I don’t think any player really thinks about what’s written. They just want to focus on how to do better than the last Test,” he added.

Amid speculation of unrest in the dressing room following the heavy loss in the Boxing Day Test, Gambhir also clarified in a presser that these were “only reports, not the truth”.

NDTV understands through its sources that Rohit is likely to be ‘rested’ for the fifth Test against Australia. Another point that has cast doubt on Rohit’s selection for the game is that Gambhir came for the press conference on the eve of the game. The ceremony is usually attended by the captain of the team.

Trying to figure out the reason behind this, Gavaskar said: “The captain had addressed the media only two days ago, so maybe he felt he didn’t need to address the media again and the coach didn’t address the media at all. Maybe the coach has to come and say that nothing like that happened, which tells you a thing or two about those reports.”