AB de Villiers: Stoking the Flames with ‘Hostile Dressing Room’ Comment Amid Captaincy Controversy

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy came to a disappointing end for Team India as they fell to a six-wicket defeat in the Sydney Test. This loss meant that India lost the Test series against Australia after a decade, with Pat Cummins and his team getting their hands on the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Following the outcome, former South African cricketer AB de Villiers commented on the rumored tensions within the Indian dressing room.

Ahead of the Sydney Test between India and Australia, an Indian Express report claimed that a senior member of the visiting team is projecting himself as 'Mr. Fix-It' and trying to become the captain as he does not have faith in youngsters being capable enough to take the side forward.

For the Sydney Test, Rohit Sharma stood down from the team due to his poor form, and Jasprit Bumrah led the side in his place. However, Bumrah suffered back spasms on Day 2 and wasn't fit enough to bowl to help India defend 161.

Talking about the talk regarding the Indian dressing room, AB de Villiers, in a video on his X (formerly Twitter) account, said, "I know there have been some rumours. I’m not surprised. When there’s smoke, there’s fire. I’ve been part of dressing rooms where it’s been hostile. Especially when you’re away from home, you’re missing your family, and you’re not playing the best cricket of your career."

'Dressing room is crucial'

AB de Villiers also spoke about how it's important to have a united dressing room to keep the atmosphere good and happy. He also talked about his own experiences with the South African team.

"The dressing room is crucial, especially away from home. It’s easier at home. I have no doubt that the Indian team dressing room might have lost that a little bit over the last weeks in Australia," said de Villiers.

"When you start losing faith in each other, you might as well sit on the sides and hand over the trophy. I don’t have facts with regards to the Indian dressing room. I’ll wait for facts to see who’s been niggling with who," he added.

Apart from winning the Perth Test against Australia, nothing went right for India Down Under. The batting disappointed big time as the likes of Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, and Rohit Sharma failed to get going.

Despite scoring a century in Perth, Virat Kohli did not aggregate 200 runs in the five-match series against Australia.

“It’s very easy for bad stuff and bad habits to creep into the dressing room. We also had that against Australia in 2006 when we lost 2-0 in Australia and then lost 3-0 in South Africa. We lost five out of six Tests. It wasn’t sunshine and roses in that dressing room, we were squabbling with each other,” said de Villiers.

“It’s everything, in my opinion. That’s the kind of stuff I believed in when I captained teams. For me, it was a non-negotiable. The dressing room needed to be truthful, guys were loyal to each other, there was great atmosphere and spirit, and we always respected the guy next to you. If you have that, even if you’re losing, you still have a good dressing room," he added.

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