India captain Rohit Sharma has given his first interview after India's heartbreaking loss in the ODI World Cup final 2023. The veteran star was at the helm of the Men in Blue's record-breaking run in the tournament but could not take his team over the final hurdle on November 21. He has spoken his heart out after that painful night in Ahmedabad and has dropped a major hint of playing in the T20 World Cup next year.
Rohit has not played for India in T20Is since the T20 World Cup 2022 and even in the recent T20I series against South Africa, he opted for a break. Many expect the Indian captain to return to the shortest format with another World Cup approaching and he has dropped a major hint on his return now.
Rohit talked about the love and support given by fans and credited it to heal him. "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," Rohit said.
"People, when they understand what the player must be going through and when they know these kinds 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," the 36-year-old added.
Rohit started the video highlighting how hard it was for him to come back after that loss. "I had no idea how to come back from this. I had no clue what to do. My family and friends kept me going, and kept things pretty light around me, which was quite helpful. It was not easy to digest, but life moves on and you have to move on. Honestly, it was tough and it was not so easy to move on.
"I have always grown up watching 50-over World Cup. To me that was the ultimate prize. We have worked all these years for that World Cup. And It's disappointing if you don't get through it, you don't get what you want. You get disappointed. You get frustrated as well," he said.
The 36-year-old also stated that he is proud of the team for the way they played in the tournament which gave joy to numerous Indian fans. "If I look on the other side of it, I am really proud of the team. How we played was simply outstanding. You don't get to play like that in every World Cup. I am sure that how we played at least up until the final, it would have given people a lot of joy," he added.
