Rohit Sharma reflects on "desperation and hunger" in team post-2023 WC final loss

On the night of November 19, 2023, Indian cricket fans endured one of their biggest heartbreaks ever as after a 10-match streak of dominant, record-breaking wins in World Cup 2023, the Men in Blue's invincible-looking line-up succumbed to Australia courtesy of the tactical brilliance of skipper Pat Cummins and a counter-attacking ton by Travis Head in the title clash at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

While the humiliating loss left a bittersweet feeling in the minds of players and fans, it also paved the way for two landmark, undefeated campaigns in the T20 World Cup 2024 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. This year, India continued its white-ball juggernaut, capturing the T20 WC back-to-back under captaincy of Suryakumar Yadav. Across these four tournaments, Team India lost just two matches: the final of the 2023 WC at Ahmedabad and the Super Eight clash against South Africa in T20WC 2026, making this one of the most dominating runs in the sport's history.

Speaking during his programme 'Family Full House with Rohit Sharma', Rohit said, "Actually, mere saare cricketing career mein sabse tough period tha ye. 2007 se lekar main abhi tak khel raha hoon. 19 saal ho gaye. Aur 19 saal mein maine aisa time kabhi bhi nahi dekha apne khud ke liye. Ek time tha Sri Lanka mein 2012 mein, jab main kaafi kharaab tareeke se khel raha tha aur main apne aap pe bahut frustrated tha. Lekin woh mera apna goal tha. Lekin ye 19 November mera nahi, but hamare poore desh ka goal tha ki hum World Cup jeete. (This was actually the toughest phase of my career. I have been playing for 19 years and I had never experienced anything like this before. At one point in 2012, I was playing really badly in Sri Lanka, and I was really frustrated with myself, but that was my goal. But on November 19, it was the goal of the entire nation that we win the World Cup)."

Rohit further reflects on the circumstances that made the loss particularly difficult, adding, Aur kharaab isiliye laga kyunki hum India mein World Cup khel rahe the aur hum aise khel rahe the ki kabhi laga nahi tha ki hum haar sakte hain. But ye hi hota hai sports mein, jab aapko lagta hai ki sab kuch sahi chal raha hai, tabhi kahin na kahin ek adchan aa jaati hai jo aapko neeche daal deti hai. Toh ye humein sports se seekhne milta hai, ye sab cheezein. (It felt really bad because we were playing so well that it never seemed like we would lose. But that is sport. Just when you think everything is going well, something goes wrong and pushes you down. This is what we have learnt from sport).

Looking back, Rohit believes the disappointment of 19 November became an important lesson that helped shape the teams approach at the 2024 T20 World Cup.

He said, Lekin uss cheez se mujhe seekhne ke liye bhi bahut kuch mila. Agar woh hota nahi, toh shayad hum 2024 mein T20 World Cup na jeet te. Woh desperation aur woh hunger shayad 2024 ke T20 World Cup mein na aata. I think failure aapko success se zyada cheezein sikhata hai. Toh I think uss failure ke baad se team aur zyada desperate ho gayi. Mujhe abhi bhi yaad hai jab West Indies aur US mein ye World Cup tha 2024 ka aur jab hum wahan pahunche, mujhe sab logon mein jo ek energy aur jo desperation dikh raha tha, woh kaafi alag tha. (But I learnt a lot of things from the loss. Maybe that desperation and hunger would not have been visible in the T20 World Cup in 2024. Failures teach you way more things than success. I remember during the T20 World Cup in West Indies and US, I could see that desperation and energy, which was very different.)

Rohit sums up the journey from heartbreak to triumph with a powerful reflection, saying, Har ek 19 November ke liye ek 29 June toh aata hi hai. (For every 19 November, there is a June 29).

Notably, June 29 marked the date in 2024 when India ended their 11-year trophy drought by capturing their second T20 WC title, beating South Africa in the final at Barbados. (ANI)