WATCH: “It was not so easy to move on,” Rohit Sharma opens up on World Cup 2023 final heartbreak

India won all their nine league matches and the semi-final before losing to Australia in the title clash.

By Salman Anjum - 13 Dec, 2023

Team India’s dream of lifting the Cricket World Cup 2023 trophy was crushed last month as they lost to Australia in the final by six wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The Men in Blue were on a winning streak of 10 matches before the final but the Aussies outplayed them in the title clash.

Three weeks after the World Cup final loss, India skipper Rohit Sharma opened up on the heartbreak, saying that it was very tough for him to move on from the disappointment that he faced on the big night.

"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," Rohit said in a video.

"I thought we did everything we could from our side. If someone asked what went wrong with our side? We won 10 games and in that 10 games, we made mistakes. But those happen in every game we play. You can't have a perfect game, you can have a near-perfect game," he added.

The Indian captain also reflected on the near-perfect World Cup campaign and explained his decision to skip the T20I series against Australia at home and the white-ball leg of the South Africa tour.

"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.

"After that final, it was very hard to get back, and I wanted to move on which is why I decided I needed to go somewhere and get my mind out of this. But then, wherever I was, I realised people were coming to me and appreciating our effort. I feel for all of them. ALong with us, they were also dreaming of lifting the World Cup. There was so much support from everyone throughout the World Cup," he remarked.

By Salman Anjum - 13 Dec, 2023

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