Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has accused India captain Rohit Sharma and coach Gautam Gambhir of not being on the same page amidst India’s struggles in the ongoing BGT 2024 Test series against Australia.
India won the first Test in Perth under Jasprit Bumrah’s captaincy as Rohit missed the match due to paternity leave. However, Australia bounced back in the second Test in Adelaide when Rohit returned to the XI.
And in the ongoing third Test in Brisbane, Australia posted 445 runs after being asked to bat first by Rohit Sharma. In reply, India ended day 3 on 51/4 at stumps.
"Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir are not on the same page, be it the one-day tournament in Sri Lanka; Bangladesh, which was a weak series; or the New Zealand series after that. In the second and third (Tests), they (Rohit and Gambhir) were not on the same page, like Rahul Dravid was. He and Rohit were on the same page," Basit said on his YouTube channel.
Gambhir was appointed the head coach after Dravid's tenure ended following the T20 World Cup in June earlier this year.
"I can explain it very easily. In all three Test matches, a different spinner played. In two Test matches, they batted after winning the toss, but here they chose to bowl. There are three left-handers in the Australian batting....So why not (Washington) Sundar and why not (Ravichandran) Ashwin? Anybody who understands cricket will definitely talk about it,” Basit added.
Travis Head and Steve Smith scored centuries in the Brisbane Test and their 241-run partnership took the game away from India. Only Jasprit Bumrah continued to impress from the Indian bowling lineup, taking 6/76, his second fifer in the series after Perth.
"Was the decision to bowl first right? I think it was not. The Indian team is only dependent on Bumrah. The rest of the bowlers are not performing like they should. If I say it's Bumrah vs Australia, that will be right. Similarly, it's Travis Head vs India...Neither Rohit, nor (bowling coach) Morne Morkel and (chief coach) Gautam Gambhir are able to solve this problem.
India doesn't have a left-arm fast bowler in their squad. That's a weak link. We have seen Mir Hamza or Shaheen Shah Afridi accounting for Head because that's a different angle. That's why, if you see, Bumrah bowls round the wicket to Head," Basit analyzed.
Only KL Rahul (33*) has managed to evade the Australian bowling attack, while Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, and Shubman Gill perished for single-digit scores.
(Times of India inputs)
