Former India national cricket team all-format captain Rohit Sharma has revealed that he had considered retiring from international cricket after suffering heartbreak in the final of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
Rohit Sharma admitted that he was “completely heartbroken” after India’s defeat against Australia in the 2023 World Cup final, and had “no energy left” in his body.
Everyone was disappointed- Rohit Sharma
November 19, 2023 is considered to be the darkest day in the history of Indian cricket as on that day a dominant home team led by Rohit Sharma suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of Australia in front of a packed crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The Men in Blue remained undefeated in the final with almost every player having runs and wickets. But the Australian team did what they are known for and won brilliantly.
Batting first, India were all out for 240 in 50 overs and with the ball, they tried their best, but Travis Head switched on his beast mode and took the game away from the hosts.
India lost the match by 6 wickets and after the defeat all the players as well as fans were in tears as Pat Cummins and company celebrated on the podium with the World Cup trophy.
Talking about the defeat in an event, Rohit Sharma told how many difficulties he faced in his life after that match. He said:
“Everyone was disappointed, and we couldn’t believe what had happened. It was a very difficult time for me personally because I had put everything into that World Cup, not only two or three months before, but since I took over the captaincy in 2022.”
My only goal was to win the World Cup- Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma said that he had to make a lot of efforts to recover and get himself back on the field.
“My only goal was to win the World Cup, be it the T20 World Cup or the 2023 World Cup. So when that didn’t happen, I was completely heartbroken. There was no energy left in my body. It took me a few months to recover and get myself back,” Rohit said.
The former Indian captain further said that he went through a bad phase that every human being goes through after such a big shock in life, but he was quickly able to focus his attention on the next target – the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
“I think when you invest so much in something and don’t get results, it’s a very natural reaction. That’s exactly what happened to me. But I also knew that life doesn’t end there. It was a big lesson for me about dealing with disappointment, resetting and starting afresh. I knew there was something else coming, the 2024 T20 World Cup in the United States and the West Indies, and I needed to focus all my attention on that. It is very easy to say now, but at the moment, it was extremely difficult,” said Rohit.
At one point, I honestly felt like I didn’t want to play this game anymore – Rohit Sharma
During the program, Rohit Sharma also made a big revelation and said that he wanted to quit cricket after the defeat in the World Cup final.
“At one point, I honestly felt like I didn’t want to play this game anymore because it had taken everything away from me, and I felt like I had nothing left,” Rohit said.
Rohit said, “It took some time, a lot of energy and self-reflection to come back. I kept reminding myself that this was something I really loved, that it was in front of me, and I couldn’t let it go so easily. Slowly, I kept trying, regaining the energy and finding my way to get myself moving on the field again.”
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