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Clarke dismisses claims of team disunity

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Sydney: Australian cricket skipper Michael Clarke has rubbished Australian reports of upheaval in the team before Australia’s embarrassing fourth Test loss to England.

A News Corp report on Monday said the tour had been affected by off-field dramas with a long-running feud between the wives of two senior players; Clarke’s refusal to travel on the team bus or socialise with teammates and the sacking of popular vice-captain Brad Haddin after he took time off for family reasons.

Controversial selection choices for the team were also reported to be reasons for disunity, a news agency reported.

Clarke resigned on Saturday although he will play in the final fifth and final Test match of the series after last week, saying he had no intention of doing so.

Clarke spoke to a Sydney radio station from England on Monday after News Corp reported he had lost the faith of his team.

“There is no disharmony in this group whatsoever,” Clarke said on the Triple M radio network.

“The players are as tight as any team I’ve been a part of.

The report which incensed Clarke claimed there was a year-long disintegration in the off-field relationship between him and the rest of the team as he often chose to travel by private car instead of the team bus and rarely attended team get-togethers.

It also claimed Clarke’s teammates were stunned when he joined them for a drink in the hotel bar on the day he made the decision to stand down while it was also known that the wives of two senior players did not get along which caused friction between their husbands.

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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia

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The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.

Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.

Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”

Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.

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