Rohit Sharma remembers his bitter experiences of ODI World Cup 2011
Team India were ousted of the mega event after suffering an upset against Bangladesh, which left the fans and players utterly disappointed.
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Rohit Sharma recalled India's ICC Cricket World Cup campaigns that were bittersweet. Rohit, who did not qualify for the 2011 World Cup, will now captain the Men In Blue in the eagerly anticipated tournament, which will be held in India from October 5 to November 19. Rohit stated that India's performances in the 2003 World Cup were outstanding.
During that campaign, the 36-year-old was effusive in his praise for legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar, describing him as "amazing." In addition, he stated that India had a poor performance in the 2007 tournament that was conducted in the West Indies. Team India was eliminated from the mega-event after a shocking loss to Bangladesh, leaving spectators and players despondent.
"In 2003, India performed admirably until the playoffs. Sachin Tendulkar was incredible with the cricket, scoring so many runs. And then there was the 2007 World Cup, where we had a terrible experience and didn't even make it out of the group stage, so that was quite unfortunate," Rohit told ICC.
He went on to discuss India's World Cup campaign in 2011, adding that his exclusion from the squad was extremely disappointing. He recalled that he had initially decided not to watch it, but had since watched every game at home. Notably, India under MS Dhoni's leadership claimed their first World Cup title in 22 years after a resounding victory over Sri Lanka in the final match.
"2011 was a memorable year for all of us; I recall witnessing every single match, every single ball bowled and played from the comfort of my home. Clearly, I was not a part of it, so I felt a degree of disappointment. I resolved not to watch the World Cup, but the second memory I recall is how well India played in the quarterfinals and beyond," he added.
We have returned home, so let's hope we can turn things around: Rohit Rohit Sharma continued by expressing his delight at representing India in the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. Notably, the 36-year-old accumulated the most runs in the 2019 edition. He broke numerous batting records, scoring 648 runs in nine matches for an average of 81.00.
"And in 2015 and 2019, I participated in the World Cup, which felt great. We reached the semi-finals, did everything we could to advance to the finals and perform well in the finals, but a very unfortunate incident prevented us from advancing.
But hopefully, now that we're back home, we can turn things around, and we still have a long way to go. And you are aware that the World Cup cannot be won in one or two days. You must perform consistently well for a month or a month and a half," concluded the India captain.
