Rohit Sharma is in the team because of his batting, he should not lose focus: Saba Karim

Former India selector Saba Karim has issued a stern warning to skipper Rohit Sharma, saying that he should not lose focus on his batting after being elevated as captain of the team.

Rohit has now had two back-to-back poor series with the bat aggregating just 78 runs against West Indies and just 50 against Sri Lanka in the three-match T20 International (T20I) series.

"Rohit Sharma is in the XI because of his batting. Captaincy is an additional responsibility," Karim said on the Khelneeti Podcast.

"He should not lose focus with regards to batting. A lot of times we have seen that captains are not able to perform as well in their primary skill. This should not happen.

“This is just the starting phase for Rohit Sharma. He will gradually realize how important his runs are for the team. 

"His performance will be crucial in Australia (during the T20 World Cup), where the grounds are big and the opposition have top-quality bowlers. So yes, Rohit Sharma needs to work on this area," explained Karim.

Karim was however pleased with the way Shreyas Iyer went about things against Sri Lanka, especially with the way he scored runs all around the park. “Shreyas Iyer has reinvented his game. If you look at the pattern of his game, this becomes evidently clear," the former India wicketkeeper said.

"We call Suryakumar Yadav a 360-degree player but I was looking at Shreyas’ wagon wheel in the three games against Sri Lanka. 

"Except the area behind the keeper, he has scored runs everywhere. He has found his template to score runs. Having said that, there are bigger challenges ahead for him,” he further explained.

India went on to complete a 3-0 whitewash over West Indies and Sri Lanka in the T20I series. They will now face Sri Lanka in a two-match Test series, starting March 4, which will mark the start for Rohit as India's new Test captain.