"We really enjoy playing cricket together" - Pat Cummins denies dressing room divide amid Australia's struggles in BGT 2024/25 1st Test

Australian captain Pat Cummins has strongly rejected the notion that the dressing room remains divided after a heavy defeat in the opening Test against India in Perth. The 31-year-old labeled themselves as a 'tight unit' and that being through a lot over the years has kept them together.

After Josh Hazlewood stated at the end of Day 3 that the responsibility of batting well remains with the batters, former England captain Michael Vaughan raised his eyebrows. Vaughan claimed that the statement suggested that the Aussie bowlers weren't impressed by the batters' show and that all the players must take the responsibility.

Speaking at a post-match presser, here's what Cummins said while responding to Vaughan's statement, as quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald:

"No not at all. There’s plenty of times where the batters have dragged us bowlers out of tight situations and we’ve done the same. So it’s a really tight unit, probably one of the tightest teams I’ve ever played with. We really enjoy playing cricket together, we’ve been through a lot over the last few years the core group, so no problems there, everyone gets along really well."

Australia had lost the toss on Day 1 and started well by bowling Team India out for 150. However, they only managed to score 104, coneding a 46-run lead. Later, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli struck centuries to set Australia 534 to win. Although the hosts put on an improved show, it wasn't enough to prevent a win.

"You sit in the change room after a loss like that and it hurts" - Pat Cummins

Pat Cummins (Image Credits: Getty)

Cummins admitted that it was tough to see the opposition declare on them, stating that they have got some work to do so they don't find themselves in that position again. Cummins elaborated:

"Not an ideal way to start the summer. You sit in the change room after a loss like that and it hurts. When a team declares on you it’s never an amazing feeling. We’ve all been in these situations before, it’s the nature of professional sport, you lose some games.

"The biggest challenge and the most important thing is how do you bounce back, what’s your next move. That’s what we need to do this week. We were clearly well off the mark, there’s a lot to work on, so the most important thing is there’s four Test matches to come.

"How do we make sure we aren’t in this position again? We didn’t give ourselves a chance in a few different facets. I think late on Day 1, if we had just got through that period of the game, it looks a little bit different on Day 2. Obviously, a couple of big partnerships [from India] when we were bowling [didn’t help]."

The next game of the five-match series will be a pink-ball Test that gets underway in Adelaide on December 6.