'Decided not to watch but...': Rohit Sharma buries ghost of World Cup 2011 with painful admission
Taking a trip down memory lane, Rohit Sharma recalled India's bitter-sweet campaigns at the ICC World Cup.
"I need to move on from here..but honestly it was a big setback," how a young Rohit Sharma had expressed dismay over India's squad announcement for the 2011 edition of the ICC World Cup. From Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar to ex-India speedster Zaheer Khan - the year 2011 proved to be an unforgettable season for several icons of Indian cricket as the Asian giants ended their long wait for a World Cup title. Led by magnanimous MS Dhoni, India scripted history by lifting the famous trophy for the second time at the iconic Wankhede Stadium.
Finishing off in style, Dhoni smashed a gigantic six to confirm India's unforgettable win over Sri Lanka in the 2011 World Cup. Since then, the Men In Blue have never won a World Cup. Often regarded as the most giant cricket powerhouse, India last won an ICC title when Dhoni was leading the Asian giants. India have only extended its trophy-less run in ICC events since lifting the Champions Trophy back in 2013.
Rohit, who was not a part of India's World Cup-winning squad back then, will now lead the Men In Blue in the showpiece event. Two-time winners India will host the ICC event for the first time since winning the prestigious trophy in its backyard. Looking forward to playing in all World Cup venues, Indian skipper Rohit admitted that the hosts will get massive support from the fans as the celebrated tournament has finally returned back to India after 12 years.
'Tendulkar was amazing'
Taking a trip down memory lane, Rohit recalled some of India's bitter-sweet campaigns at the ICC World Cup. “In 2003, India played really well up until the finals. You know, Sachin Tendulkar was amazing with the bat, scored so many runs. And then comes the 2007 World Cup where we didn't have a great time, didn't even qualify after the league stage, so that was quite unfortunate,” Rohit told ICC.
'There were two kinds of emotions'
The Indian skipper also revealed how gutted he was after missing the World Cup spot back in 2011. The 36-year-old even vowed to not watch India's World Cup matches at the time. "2011 was a memorable one for all of us, I remember watching it from home, every single match, every single ball which was being bowled and that was being played. There were two kinds of emotions, one was obviously I was not a part of it, so I was a little disappointed. I decided I was not going to watch the World Cup, but again, the second memory I remember was that India was playing so well, quarter-finals onwards," Rohit recalled.
‘We went to semi-finals, tried everything we could…’
Rohit was the leading run-getter in the 2019 edition of the ICC World Cup. The senior opener had smashed multiple batting records in his run-fest campaign at the 2019 World Cup. With an average of 81.00 from just nine World Cup matches, Rohit amassed 648 runs for Team India. The Hitman notched up centuries against South Africa, Pakistan, England, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
"And 2015 and 2019, I was a part of it, which felt really good to play the World Cup. We went to the semi-finals, tried everything we could to go to the finals and play well in the finals, but again, a very unfortunate incident where we couldn’t go through to the finals. But hopefully, you know, we are back home again, so hopefully we can turn things around and it's still a long way to go. And you know you can't win the World Cup in one or two days. You got to play well for an entire month, month and a half, and be consistent," Rohit added.
