Josh Hazlewood confirms dressing room rift, gets attacked by Michael Vaughan for dividing Australian team

Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has put all the blame for Australia's poor performance in the Perth Test on his team's batting line-up. It was a shocking statement from the experienced Australian quick who was not ready to take responsibility for such a performance.

Hazlewood's shocking comments have not gone down well with the former England captain Michael Vaughan, who claimed that such a statement can divide a team into batters and bowlers.

According to Vaughan, every player has the responsibility to win the game for his team, not just the batters. He slammed Hazlewood for making such comments in public and was clearly shocked to hear them.

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Josh Hazlewood blames Australia's batters for poor performance in Perth

After the end of play on Day 3, Josh Hazlewood was asked by the reporters about Australia's top-order collapse which left them reeling at 12-3 at Stumps. However, he shockingly put all the blame on the batters and refused to take any responsibility.

"You probably have to ask one of the batters that question. I'm sort of relaxing and trying to get a bit of physio and a bit of treatment, and I'm probably looking mostly towards next Test and what plans we can do," Hazlewood stated.

Australian batters had a disappointing Test overall. They were bundled out for just 104 in the first innings and then lost three quick wickets by the end of the third day's play.

Despite some resilience from Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, and Alex Carey, the target was too big for the home team to save the match. As a result, Australia were bowled out for 238 in the second innings, resulting in a huge win for India.

Michael Vaughan lashes out at Josh Hazlewood

While speaking on Fox Cricket, Michael Vaughan slammed Josh Hazlewood for his inappropriate comments and claimed that such comments create a divide in a team. Vaughan added that every player has to bat and it is the responsibility of everyone to bail Australia out of a difficult spot.

"I must admit, I'm staggered by that. Josh Hazlewood is a great bowler, terrific team member. Publicly, I've never heard an Australian come out and kind of divide the camp into batters and bowlers," Vaughan said

"Every single player has to bat. There's two days to go in the Test match. It's a long shot, a huge shot for Australia to get anything out of this game," he added.

The former England captain expressed surprise at this comment and claimed that it is unusual for an Australian player to make such a comment on a public platform.

"But to publicly see a player basically saying, 'I'm thinking about the next game' before this game is finished... I've never, ever seen that from an Australian player, any player really, around the globe, but particularly Australians," Vaughan added.

In a forgettable match for Australia, Josh Hazlewood's performance was one of the brightest spots for them. Hazlewood picked up 4-29 in the first innings and then returned surreal figures of 1-28 in 21 overs.

India dominate Australia to take a 1-0 lead

Meanwhile, India dominated the Test match and registered a thumping win over Australia by a margin of 295 runs. It was a huge victory for a team that had just been whitewashed 0-3 at home by New Zealand recently.

The Men in Blue proved to be better than Australia in all three departments and did not allow them to come back into the game. Stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah led from the front and was duly adjudged the Player of the Match. Bumrah picked up 8 wickets in the match.