Former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh has said that Rohit Sharma has won the T20 World Cup as captain and is a very successful leader, and not many skippers would step down from a Test while not being in form to give someone else an opportunity. Yuvraj defended Rohit recently and India head coach Gautam Gambhir as well, both of whom are under fire because of the team's recent poor run in Tests.

India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 1-3 earlier this month to concede the title after a decade to Australia and despite Rohit dropping himself from the XI for the final Test in Sydney, he has been heavily criticised for his batting as well as captaincy.

The defeat to Australia cost India a spot in the World Test Championship final, coming on the back of an unprecedented 0-3 series whitewash at home to New Zealand.

"I always look at the team graph over five years or three years. Gautam has just come into the system, he needs more time. Rohit Sharma has won the T20 World Cup as captain, he was captain when India played the ODI World Cup final," Yuvraj said while speaking to the media at an event in New Delhi.

"The guy has stepped down from the last match and given somebody else a chance. How many captains have done that in the past? Please tell me," Yuvraj added.

Despite India losing the series Down Under, what captured everyone's attention were the credible performances put up by youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Reddy. Yuvraj reserved special praise for the duo who were on their first tour of Australia.

"Nitish scored a hundred on his first tour, it is amazing. Not sure how many have done that. Jaiswal scored 150 plus in his first Test in Australia, it is highly commendable. We should talk about these performances more," Yuvraj said.

Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Cricket, Sports and around the world.