Rohit Sharma advised to quit captaincy over poor show in Australia Tests

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali lashed out at Indian captain Rohit Sharma over his poor performance in the ongoing AUS v IND Test series.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former cricketers said that Rohit Sharma weakened the confidence of the Indian team which won the first AUS v IND Test under stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah.

The first Test at Perth saw Indian opening batters Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul sharing a match-winning stand of 201 runs.

Rohit Sharma decided against changing the opening pair in the second AUS v IND Test and came at No. 6 in the batting order.

However, the Indian captain failed to score runs at the position in the second and third Test.

The fourth AUS v IND Test saw KL Rahul pushed down to No. 3 as Rohit Sharma opened the inning with Yashasvi Jaiswal while Shubman Gill was left out of the final Playing XI.

Read more: ‘Captain cry baby’: Australian media slams Rohit Sharma for frustration at Jaiswal

The decision did nothing to turn the fortunes for Rohit Sharma as he scored three in the first inning and nine in the second.

Several analysts and former cricketers raised questions over the decision to tinker with the batting order which helped India win the first AUS v IND game.

Among them was former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali who said that the decision to change KL Rahul’s batting number shattered his confidence.

“Rohit is not in form, and the one who was scoring runs, (KL) Rahul, you put him under pressure as well. Aapne team ka confidence bilkul shatter kar diya (you shattered the confidence of the team),” he said on his YouTube channel.

Meanwhile, Basit Ali urged Rohit Sharma to step down from captaincy before the final Test of the AUS v IND Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“I think the time has come for Rohit to step down; Bumrah should be made captain for the last Test. You have served India a lot, but your body is not supporting you now,” he said.