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Indian opener Rohit Sharma during the first ODI against South Africa in Ranchi. (PHOTO: AP)
The date if 19 November 2023 will always be a day that Indian cricket fans will never forget because of the enormous heartbreak it caused when an unbeaten India side finally conceded defeat in the tournament, tripping up at the final hurdle and losing the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup to Australia.
It also had a devastating effect on then-skipper Rohit Sharma who revealed on Sunday that he almost contemplated hanging up his boots after that heartbreak. “After 2023 World Cup final, I was completed distraught and felt like I didn’t want to play this sport anymore because it had taken everything out of me and I felt I had nothing left,” Rohit said during a Masters Union event.
“It took some time and I kept reminding myself that this is something I truly love, that it was right in front of me, and I couldn’t let it go so easy. Slowly, I found my way back, regaining the energy and getting myself moving again on the field. Everybody was extremely disappointed, and we just couldn’t believe what had happened. It was a very tough time for me personally because I had put everything into that World Cup not just two or three months before it, but ever since I took over the captaincy in 2022,” he added.
Rohit, who has retired from T20Is and Tests and was removed from ODI captaincy earlier this year, continues to play the 50-over format and would like to end his career with one final attempt at the 2027 World Cup. “My only goal was to win the World Cup, whether it was the T20 World Cup or the 2023 World Cup. So when it didn’t happen, I was completely devastated. There was no energy left in my body. It took me a couple of months to recover and bring myself back,” said Rohit.
Less than a year after that loss to Australia in Ahmedabad, Rohit led the Indian team to the T20 World Cup title in the Americas, but overcoming the pain of the defeat in November 2023 was extremely difficult.
“I guess when you invest so much into something and don’t achieve the result, it’s a very natural reaction. That’s exactly what happened with me. But I also knew that life doesn’t end there. It was a big lesson for me how to deal with disappointment, reset, and start fresh. I knew that something else was coming the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies and I had to shift all my focus towards that. It’s very easy to say this now, but at that moment, it was extremely difficult,” Rohit said.
English (US) ·