India's disappointing performances in the Adelaide Test, where they suffered a 10-wicket defeat to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, along with their struggles in the ongoing third match in Brisbane, have led former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali to speculate about a rift within the Indian dressing room. He suggested that captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir may not be aligned in their approach.

During a disrupted three days of play at the Gabba due to rain, India experienced a lacklustre performance, with Jasprit Bumrah emerging as the sole bright spot. He achieved his second five-wicket haul of the series, concluding the first innings with figures of 6 for 76, while Australia set a daunting target of 445 runs. Subsequently, the Australian fast bowlers left India reeling at 48 for four.

A similar scenario unfolded in Adelaide, where Bumrah spearheaded the Indian bowling attack with figures of 4 for 61, yet the home side managed to score 337 in their first innings. In response, none of the Indian batsmen reached even fifty runs, allowing Australia to chase down a modest target of 19 runs in just 20 deliveries.

Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir do not share a common understanding.

Basit, while discussing on his YouTube channel, expressed his belief that the Indian captain and head coach have not been aligned since Gautam Gambhir took over as Rahul Dravid's successor in July of this year.

"Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir are not in agreement, whether it pertains to the one-day tournament in Sri Lanka, the relatively weak series against Bangladesh, or the subsequent series against New Zealand," Basit remarked.

"In the second and third Tests, they are not in sync, unlike the rapport that existed between Rahul Dravid and Rohit," he added.

Basit elaborated on his viewpoint by highlighting the bowling selections made during the initial three matches of the Test series against Australia. He suggested that, given Australia's three left-handed batsmen, it would have been more prudent for India to select either Washington Sundar or Ravichandran Ashwin, who were chosen for the first two matches, instead of Ravindra Jadeja, who took Ashwin's place for the match at the Gabba.

"I can clarify this quite simply," Basit stated. "In all three Test matches, a different spinner was utilized. In two of those matches, they batted after winning the toss, yet they opted to bowl in this instance. With three left-handers in the Australian lineup, why not choose Sundar or Ashwin? Anyone with a basic understanding of cricket would certainly discuss this."

Additionally, Basit criticized India's choice to bowl first at the Gabba, particularly with a bowling attack that heavily relied on Jasprit Bumrah. He argued that the absence of a left-arm pacer represents a "weak link" in the team.

"Was the decision to bowl first justified? I believe it was not. The Indian team is overly reliant on Bumrah, while the other bowlers are not performing to expectations. If I were to say it's Bumrah against Australia, that would be accurate. Similarly, it's Travis Head against India... Neither Rohit, nor bowling coach Morne Morkel, nor chief coach Gautam Gambhir seem to be addressing this issue.

"India lacks a left-arm fast bowler in their squad, which is a significant weakness. We have seen the effectiveness of bowlers like Mir Hamza or Shaheen Shah Afridi."

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