A tour that started so brightly for India is fast descending into chaos as the team battles controversy over everything from stadium food to the players’ marital status.

After losing the second Test against Australia on Saturday, much of the post-game wash-up centred around India’s complaints over the state of the Gabba practice wickets.

While the tourists initially sent out an angry media release slamming the net pitches after Shikhar Dhawan was hit on the wrist on Saturday morning, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is now launching a probe into why the opener didn’t go out to bat at the start of play, only to return to the middle after India was six wickets down.

GAVASKAR: PRACTICE WICKETS NO EXCUSE

“Dhawan came out to bat in less than an hour,” a senior official told Times of India.

“It was surprising that he didn’t do so from the beginning, because that would have helped us start in an advantageous position.

“It was a matter of winning the first hour and we might have won this Test on a deteriorating wicket. We have to know about the gravity of the injury.”

It seems Saturday’s media release did not have the full approval of everyone at the BCCI, because the senior official also told Times Of India the complaints about the practice wickets are simply part and parcel of international cricket.

It’s clear the last-minute decision for Dhawan to stay in the dressing room left the Indians ruffled, and captain MS Dhoni admitted as much after the match.

According to The Telegraph India, Dhoni felt the blame lay squarely with Dhawan.

“India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni didn’t say so in as many words, but left nobody in any doubt that Shikhar Dhawan just hadn’t been professional enough before the start of play on Day IV, which actually turned out to be the last day, of the second Test versus Australia,” The Telegraph wrote.

“What happened in the dressing room also doesn’t show the team management in good light.

“How could there be such a massive communication gap when you have so many people in the support staff, headed by team director Ravi Shastri, coach Duncan Fletcher and manager Arshad Ayub?”

Legendary former Test captain Anil Kumble even went so far as to suggest Dhawan was simply trying to save his place in the side by not going out to bat straight away.

“It probably was a reflection of Dhawan’s state of mind,” Kumble wrote in a newspaper column, according to NDTV.

“He would have been aware that his place in the XI was in question after three failures and one more poor score would have done him in.

“This is where the team management should have stepped in and made the decision to send him in after the first one or two wickets.”

However, others have criticised the man who went in to bat instead of Dhawan, Virat Kohli, for not being prepared enough.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, after whom the Border-Gavaskar series is named, told NDTV Kohli could not use a lack of preparation as an excuse.

“A person who has got a hundred in each innings in the previous Test should have been prepared,” Gavaskar said.

“Dhawan’s injury in the morning before play started was unfortunate but pain is an individual thing. It is hard for anyone else to say whether Dhawan was uncomfortable enough to bat.”

If that controversy wasn’t enough for one day, the tourists were also forced to deal with a row over the food provided by Queensland Cricket.

Two players, Ishant Sharma and Suresh Raina, didn’t believe “proper” vegetarian food was available to them and so went to a local restaurant to seek it out.

However, on their return they were told they weren’t allowed to bring food or drink into the stadium, forcing the international superstars to chow down on their lunch outside the ground before rejoining their teammates in the dressing room.

And the internal turmoil looks set to continue, with DNA India reporting that only players’ wives - not girlfriends - will be allowed to join their significant others in Australia.

“Virat Kohli need not look forward to being joined by (Bollywood starlet) Anushka Sharma,” the report said.

“The rule banning girlfriends still remains in place. Those lucky enough to be married, like captain MS Dhoni, R Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay, can expect their wives to join them before the Melbourne Test beginning on the 26th of this month.”

Kohli famously demanded Sharma be allowed to stay with him during the tour of England earlier this year, only to endure a shocking run of form with the bat.

Speaking of poor batting form, India’s epic collapse on Saturday morning was shocking, but came as no surprise to a cricket writer at the Deccan Herald.

“Indian batting collapses in away Tests are now as surprising as spotting an Aussie fan without a glass of Victoria Bitter or Coopers Pale Ale while enjoying the match,” the Deccan Herald article said.