Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has hit out at Australia’s “scaremonger” tactics and hinted there could be more than meets the eye with Josh Hazlewood’s injury.

In a bombshell column for the Indian Sportstar, Gavaskar claimed Australia were at panic stations after being embarrassed in the first match of the Border-Gavaskar series in Perth.

Australia were belted to the tune of 295 runs at Perth Stadium, their seventh-biggest loss on home soil by way of runs.

Gavaskar threw the heat on pre-match boasts from staff in the media that the Perth pitch would be too much for the tourists to handle.

“All the boasts about how the (Perth) pitch is going to be pacy and bouncy and scare the living daylights out of the Indian batters were exactly that – the boasts of a bully,’’ Gavaskar wrote.

“Mind you, it wasn’t the Aussie players but their support staff in the media, both electronic and print, who were trying to be scaremongers.’’

The former batting superstar, who produced a remarkable 10,122 runs at 51.12 with 34 centuries in 125 Tests, then doubled down on his comments, suggesting Hazlewood missing the pink-ball Test could in fact be a reaction to his post-day three media press conference that made the Australian group appear divided.

“The panic in the Australian ranks is palpable, what with former players calling for heads to be chopped off and even some hinting at cracks in the Australian team after Josh Hazlewood’s media interview where he suggested it was up to the batters to now do something.