Similar questions were being asked in Germany at the time. Some time ago, I looked into this. In light of the situation in the east, Germans were asking why wasn't Rommel being given a larger command?
Had Rommel stayed at 7th Panzer Division and been sent to the Eastern Front, he would have been just another competent panzer commander swallowed up in the vast expanses of the East.
As I recall, the consensus of the German high command was that Rommel was a good tactician best suited for a corps command rather than say command of a fully equipped army, or army group.
I neither agree nor disagree but that was essentially the conclusion I arrived at when I looked into this quite some ago.
Having read Rommel’s memoirs and a few biographies of him, I agree with the assessment of his colleagues. Most of his successes in North Africa were done with what was really little better than a Panzer Corps with some unreliable allied units attached.
I had the pleasure of communicating with a German veteran who served under Rommel in North Africa and later under Kesselring in Italy. He detested Rommel; said Rommel only wanted glory at the cost of the blood of his soldiers. He loved Kesselring, who he claimed was considerate of the welfare of his troops.