Rohit Sharma has shattered team's confidence, time for him to step down: Basit Ali

Rohit Sharma's captaincy in the Test format has been under scrutiny ever since India were whitewashed 3-0 at home against New Zealand last month. Things have gone from bad to worse after the Asian giants lost two out of the three Tests they played under his leadership in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 against Australia. Rohit's batting form has also deserted him, only adding to his woes. The right-hander has only scored 122 runs from his last 11 innings in Test cricket.

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has said that Rohit has single-handedly shattered India's confidence after they won the first Test against Australia under stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah as Rohit was on paternity leave.

In Rohit's absence, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul stitched a match-winning opening partnership of 201 runs in Perth. After the Mumbai batter returned to the playing XI in the second Test, he decided not to tinker with the successful opening pair and relinquished his spot at the top of the order, coming in at No. 6 in the second and third Tests. However, he failed to get himself among the runs.

In the Boxing Day Test, he moved back to the top of the order, pushing back Rahul to No. 3. Furthermore, Shubman Gill had to be left out of the playing XI as India decided to go in with two spinners for the first time in the series. However, the 37-year-old managed scores of 3 and 9.

Basit feels that Rohit's move to open the batting and disrupting the opening pair of Rahul and Yashasvi was the primary reason behind India's loss in the Boxing Day Test.

"Did India get overconfident after winning the first Test? Ek faisla - ke nahi, mai open karunga. 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)," Basit said on his YouTube channel.

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The cricketer-turned-expert said that it is high time that Rohit steps down as captain and allows Bumrah to take charge.

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