• Source:JND
Add as a preferred

In the first address after the heartbreaking ODI World Cup final loss against Australia last month, India skipper Rohit Sharma posted an emotional video summing up their campaign in the tournament and how he dealt with the setback.

India suffered a six-wicket defeat against Australia in the summit clash at Narendra Modi Stadium which denied them their third title in the tournament. India were undefeated in the tournament and maintained a 10-match winning streak before heading to the finals.

The home side were the firm favourites for the title as they played exceptionally well throughout the tournament in each department.

In a video posted on Mumbai Indians' X account, Rohit said he had no clue how to recover from the World Cup final defeat and he was not able to not 'digest' the result.

"I have no idea how to come back from this. First few days, I didn't know what to do. My family and my friends kept me going, kept things pretty light around me which was quite helpful. It wasn't easy to digest but life moves on. You have to move on in life. But honestly, it was tough and it was not easy to move on," Rohit said.

The opening batter, who scored a century and three fifties in the showpiece event, said he was disappointed to not lift the title for the country as he grew up watching ODI World Cups.

"I've always grown up watching 50-over World Cup(s). To me, that was the ultimate prize, the 50-ver World Cup. We've worked all these years for the World Cup and it is disappointing if you didn't get through it. You 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," he said.

"I thought we did everything we could from our side. If someone asks me what went wrong? Because we won 10 games and yes we made mistakes in that 10 games but those mistakes happen in every game you play. You can't have a perfect game. You can have a near-perfect game...," Rohit added.

Despite ending up as runners-up, Rohit did not find any shortcomings in his team and lauded his teammates' contributions.

"I'm really proud of the team as well because how we played was simply outstanding. You don't get to perform like that in every World Cup. I'm pretty sure at least, how we played up until that finals, it would have given people a lot of joy, a lot of pride watching the team play," the captain said.

The opening batter also praised supporters for backing them during this phase too.

"After the final, it was very hard to get back and start moving on, which is why I decided that I need to go somewhere and 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," Rohit said.

"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," he added.

After opting for rest in the T20Is against Australia and the white-ball tour of South Africa, Rohit will return for the upcoming two-match Test series against Proteas, starting on December 26.