Following India’s 1-3 series loss to Australia, former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has reacted to the rumours of a rift within the dressing room. India lost the series-deciding Sydney Test by 6 wickets on Sunday, with the defeat ending their slim hopes of making it to the World Test Championship (WTC) final. However, in the lead up to the match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, one term that went viral on social media was ‘Mr. Fix It’. A report in the Indian Express mentioned that a certain player in the team proposed his name for ‘interim captaincy’.
However, de Villiers suggested that these things aren’t new in the sport, especially when a team is playing away from home.
“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,” De Villiers said in a video posted on X.
De Villiers, however, claimed that he won’t be surprised if the rumours are indeed true, especially with the results not going in favour of the 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. 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.
De Villiers also recalled an incident during his playing days when South Africa were clean swept by Australia both home and away.
“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. 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,” the former South Africa captain highlighted.
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