India batting legend Sunil Gavaskar, on Sunday, slammed Australian cricket players after reports claimed players were not happy with coach Justin Langer’s style of functioning in the recently concluded Test series against India. Australia lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1 to India at home.

According to Cric Tracker, a Sydney Morning Herald report said, “Dressing-room sources say that over a gruelling summer, Langer’s management style wore thin with some players, who on top of having to live in a bubble for months on end say they have become drained by his intensity and mood swings.”

According the report, the atmosphere in the dressing room was brought down by Langer’s “shifting emotions and too much micro-management.”

In his column for Mid-day, Gavaskar said that the Australian players have only themselves to blame for the series loss.

He said, “The leaks to the media about Langer actually reflects badly on the Australian team as it portrays them as brats who can’t accept they were outplayed and so need to shift the blame elsewhere.”

According to Gavaskar, once the players are out on the field, the coach has no say in the proceedings. He said, “Stories planted in the media by the players or their agents or managers are making out that it was Langer’s intensity and passion that had the players under pressure and so affected their game. This is utter rubbish as once the players are out on the field, the coach can do nothing and the players themselves have to find the answers to the questions asked by the opposition.”

Gavaskar added, “The one thing that they could possibly pin on the coach and the advisory group is the decision to bat first in the Melbourne Test match. Whether that was only the captain and senior players’ decision to bat first or whether it was one that the coach Langer encouraged Tim Paine to take is not known but apart from that possibility, the Australians have nobody else to blame than themselves.”