Indian media reports of a rift between the Indian captain Rohit Sharma and fast bowler Mohammed Shami as the recriminations continue in the sub-continent following Australia’s dominant 10-wicket win in Adelaide.

Australia’s quicks dismantled India’s batting order, with not a single batter from the touring side managing to pass 50 across the two innings.

India previously suffered the same fate in the 2021 World Test Championship final against New Zealand at Southampton.

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Sharma has been heavily criticised by former players with a voice in the media, with former India cricketer Aakash Chopra questioning his leadership, especially with how they attacked Travis Head during his run-a-ball 140 on his home turf.

“Did we bowl bouncers to Head? You have to bowl bouncers on Head’s head. Until we do that. he doesn’t get out and keeps troubling us. He has done that earlier and is doing it now also. He did that in the World Cup final and the WTC final as well,” he said.

“Jasprit Bumrah had bowled a four-over spell and had already picked up a wicket in that. So why did he bowl only four overs, and didn’t bowl after that at all?

“He didn’t bowl in the entire session. Rohit’s captaincy – let’s call a spade a spade. We saw defensive captaincy. He allowed the match to drift.

“I have brought another list as well – the most consecutive losses by an Indian captain. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi lost six consecutive matches in 1967. After that, Sachin Tendulkar in 1999, and if you come to the 21st century, MS Dhoni twice lost four consecutive matches, Virat Kohli lost four consecutive matches in 2020-21, and now Rohit Sharma has already lost four consecutive matches.

“He wasn’t the captain in the Perth match. So that win doesn’t count for him. If we leave the last century, it’s Dhoni, Kohli and Rohit, and the biggest concerning thing, which might not be with anyone else, is three consecutive losses at home.

“The captaincy has been a little lacklustre.”

India legend Sunil Gavaskar said Sharma looked a little lost in his return after missing the series opener in Perth.

“I think the feet aren’t moving as they should. He needs to do a little bit of exercise before coming to the crease and try to get some circulation going in the legs,” Gavaskar said, per the Deccan Chronicle.

“When he comes in to bat, maybe run in a little bit, so that the circulation is there. Do some jogging before you take the first ball.”

Gavaskar also told Sports Talk that the skipper should move back to the top of the order.

“He should return to his regular spot,” he said.

“We should remember why Rahul had opened. He did that because Rohit Sharma was not available for the first Test. I can understand why they kept him as an opener in the second Test, he had a 200-plus partnership with Jaiswal.

“But now that he couldn’t score this Test, I feel Rahul should go back to No.5 or No.6 and Rohit Sharma should open. If Rohit scores quickly in the beginning, then he can score a big century also later.”

The candid debate comes as the skipper reportedly had a heated exchange with Shami as questions about his availability bubbled since the lopsided loss.

Shami is still in India and in the final stages of his rehabilitation from a serious ankle injury but could yet play a role in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

With the third Test at the Gabba starting on Saturday, Sharma said on Monday the “door is very much open” for Shami to join the squad.

However, a report from Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran, claims there’s tension between the captain and Shami and that it may affect Shami’s prospects of playing.

“This dates back to last month, when India were in the middle of a Test series against New Zealand,” The Hindustan Times wrote relaying the report from Dainik Jagran.

“Ahead of the opener in Bengaluru, Rohit revealed that, unlike the belief that Shami is fully fit, there’s swelling in his knee. Before this, Shami had retaliated to media reports that he had picked up a new injury, calling it fake and reiterating that he was fit and raring to go. This was just the tip of the iceberg, though.

“The report claims Rohit and Shami met after New Zealand beat India in the first Test, but had a conversation that was anything but smooth.

“When Shami was at NCA, he met Rohit during the first Test in Bengaluru. During their meeting, the two had a heated exchange over the captain’s remark on Shami when asked about his current status and availability for the New Zealand and Australia Test series,’ Jagran quoted a source as saying.

“The question is clear: Does Rohit not want Shami in India’s Test set-up? Why else is there still no clarity over his joining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy?”

A Deccan Herald report also stated that Shami had “no clarity over his international comeback” despite being in good form in limited overs domestically.

“He looks pretty much on course even though it is a four-over format but in a Test match as a premier bowling partner of Jasprit Bumrah, he would be expected to bowl at least three if not four spells of 20 overs in a day on an average,” the report said.

“It is believed that national selectors are willing to pick him as and when he is deemed fit but there is a discussion in the BCCI corridors that the veteran speedster himself has told the NCA medical team that ‘he is still not Test match ready’.

“He has been telling his assessors that he has no problems while bowling but feels a bit of swelling in his knee after matches, something that Test skipper Rohit Sharma also mentioned in his media interaction after losing the Adelaide Test.”