Opening up for the first time since India lost the Men’s ODI World Cup final, captain Rohit Sharma admitted that though one has to move on in life, it was honestly tough for him to get over the defeat in the final at Ahmedabad.
In the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium on November 19, Rohit continued to give India fast starts in the first ten overs, slamming a 31-ball 47 as the hosts’ reached 80 at the end of the first powerplay.
But after that, India never got the desired groove in the middle overs and eventually made 240. In reply, Australia chased down the total in 43 overs, and halted India’s ten-match unbeaten streak in the tournament. It meant that India’s date with destiny and ending their ten-year drought of a global trophy ended in a heartbreak.
“I’ve always grown up watching the 50-over World Cup. To me that was the ultimate prize, the 50-over World Cup. We’ve worked all these years, for that World Cup. And it is disappointing, right?”
“If you don’t get through it, don’t get what you want, what you’ve been looking for all this while, what you were dreaming of. You get disappointed. You get frustrated as well at times.”
"I had no idea how to come back after the final, my family & friends kept me going - it was hard to digest but life needs to move on but honestly it was tough to move on from that day, it was the ultimate prize," said Rohit in a video posted on ‘Team45ro’ Instagram account.
After the tournament was over, Rohit headed to United Kingdom with his family to try and get over the sadness of losing the World Cup final, while appreciating the fans for coming out to support the team in huge numbers. “After the final, it was very hard to get back and start moving on, which is why I decided that I need to get my mind out of this.”
“But then, wherever I was, I realised that people were coming up to me and they were appreciating everyone’s effort, how well we played. I feel for all of them. They all, along with us, were dreaming of lifting that World Cup, along with us.”
“Everywhere we went during this entire campaign, there was so much support from everyone who came to the stadium firstly and people who were watching it from home as well.”
“I want to appreciate what the people have done for us, in that one and half month period. But again, if I think more and more about that I feel quite disappointed that we were not able to go all the way.”
Rohit revealed fans telling him that they were proud of Indian team’s performance in the World Cup, making it easy for him to heal and was touched by the empathy shown by them. “For me to see, you know, people coming up to me, telling me that they were proud of the team, you know made me feel good. Along with them, I was healing as well. I felt, okay these are the kind of things you want to hear.”
“People, when they understand what the player must be going through and when they know these kind of things and not to bring out that frustration, that anger, it means a lot for us, for me definitely it meant a lot because there was no anger, it was just pure love from people that I met and it was wonderful to see that. So it gives you motivation to get back and start working again and look for another ultimate prize.”
Rohit will be next seen in cricketing action during India’s two Tests against South Africa in Centurion from December 26-30 and in Cape Town from January 3-7, 2024, after taking a break from the white-ball leg of the tour.
It is India's second series of the 2023-2025 World Test Championship cycle, after winning the two-Test series in West Indies in July by 1-0. The last time India played a Test series in South Africa was in December 2021-January 2022, which Rohit missed due to a left hamstring injury.
At that time, India won the first Test in Centurion, before South Africa bounced back to win matches in Johannesburg and Cape Town to eventually claim the series 2-1, thus increasing the visitors’ search for a first-ever Test series win in the country.