Administrative manager Chetan Chauhan told newsmen that there was no truth to the Rajput 'quote' which appeared in a local newspaper here and in Melbourne on Monday. Rajput had been quoted as saying, “Yes, there's a problem with Yuvraj's attitude. We will have to have a one-on-one with him in Sydney.” The assistant coach had addressed the media on Sunday, but had issued no such statement at the press conference.

“A report had appeared earlier too, both here and back in India, that we had asked for a replacement,” said Chauhan. “That is not true. There is also a report yesterday (sic) that the team management was upset with one of the players. That is not true. We did have a discussion at the end of the first Test, but no single player was pointed out for bad performance. The entire team was responsible for what happened.

“Without information, these kind of releases — while not being disturbing — are not very healthy,” the former Indian opener went on. “I would request everyone to refrain from putting out these kind of reports.”

Already smarting from the humiliating loss in the first Test, the purported Rajput comments could have easily led to bad blood within the team. The think-tank deserves credit for coming out in the open with an official denial and resisting the temptation to allow the story to die a natural death.

Chauhan also promised a turnaround in the second Test, beginning on Wednesday. “We were disappointed with our performance in the first Test. Let me assure you that the bad dream is over. We have left it behind us. The team is determined; we will bounce back,” he announced.