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Brisbane Test: Virat Kohli-Shikhar Dhawan dressing room spat caused 'unrest' within Indian team

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Virat Kohli (L) and Shikhar Dhawan
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The Gabba test in Brisbane exposed the Indian visiting side as India's batting woes once again came to the fore. Team performace apart, the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led young side was also  haunted by an internal strife between vice-captain Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan. 

As the Indian batsmen came down crumbling like a pack of cards owing to a ripper performance by Aussie pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson and company on the fourth morning of the Brisbane Test, Kohli and Dhawan were locked in a disagreement.

As Kohli walked in to bat They said it on television: "Kohli just doesn't look himself. He seems a little out of it."

It has been believed that Kohli was furious that he had to go and bat in only after he got a few minutes' notice after Dhawan, who remained unbeaten overnight, showed signs of discomfort after being hit on on his right wrist at the nets on an uneven pitch. Kohli lashed out at the left-handed opener on returning to the dressing room.

The problem surfaced after captain Dhoni spoke of the  "unrest in the dressing room" after the Gabba Test which India lost on Saturday by four wickets with a day to spare.

The incident is likely to affect the team morale and their performance with India already reeling 0-2 in the four-Test series.

HT has learnt from sources that Kohli, who is in great form, was upset to be rushed into play after Dhawan informed the team management that he won't be able to resume batting straightaway. Kohli was the next man in and would have had to face the second ball of the morning if a wicket had fallen off the first.

According to a report in the Hindustan Times the vice-captain's suspected that Dhawan was making an excuse to avoid facing the Australian pace attack in the morning on the fourth day. Kohli was out soon after scoring a poor one run, facing 11 deliveries in his 13-minute on-field presence. The blame game began soon after he returned to the dressing room. Kohli reportedly blamed Dhawan for his cheap dismissal and the latter responded, slamming speculation that he had chickened out.

Dhawan reportedly told Kohli that he took pride in playing for the country. If his performance was not up to the mark, he would be willing to sit out, but will not take any insinuation that he faked injury.

Team director Ravi Shastri stepped in to calm things down.

Dhawan eventually batted after the fall of the seventh wicket, top-scoring 81 runs. 

 

 

 

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