Rohit Sharma discloses his retirement thoughts after the ODI World Cup 2023 final loss

We are all aware of how significant the ODI World Cup is to Rohit Sharma's life. At the beginning of his cricket career, he had only one dream: to win the ODI World Cup. He missed a place in the 2011 World Cup-winning squad. After this, he failed in 2015, 2019, and most recently in 2023, where he was also captain of the team. Under his captaincy, the Indian team had a fabulous unbeaten run through the tournament, but stumbled at the last hurdle against Australia in Ahmedabad. That dream of Rohit Sharma was shattered by Australia. All the Indian fans are still remembering Rohit Sharma’s emotions after losing that final. 

In a recent event in Gurugram, he recalled the saddest moment of his cricket career. He said that he didn’t feel like playing the sport anymore because it had taken ‘everything out of my body.’ Furthermore, he added that he thought about his international retirement that day, after losing the finals. 

“Everybody was so disappointed, and we just couldn’t believe what had happened. It was a very tough time for me personally because I had put everything into that World Cup, not just two or three months before it, but ever since I took over the captaincy in 2022, my only goal was to win the World Cup,” he added.

“After the 2023 World Cup final, I was completely distraught and felt like I didn’t want to play this sport anymore because it had taken everything out of me and I felt I had nothing left,” Rohit said during a Masters Union event in Gurugram.

“When you invest so much into something and don’t achieve the result, it’s a very natural reaction. That’s exactly what happened with me. But I also knew that life doesn’t end there,” Rohit added.

How Rohit Sharma convinced himself to restart?

Furthermore, former Indian captain Rohit Sharma also disclosed how he convinced himself of a restart after losing the 2023 World Cup finals. He said, 

“It was a big lesson for me on how to deal with disappointment, reset, and start fresh. I knew that something else was coming at the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies, and I had to shift all my focus towards that.

“It’s very easy to say this now, but at that moment, it was very difficult.” “It took some time, and I kept reminding myself that this is something I truly love, that it was right in front of me, and I couldn’t let it go so easily. Slowly, I found my way back, regaining the energy and getting myself moving again on the field.

Rohit Sharma’s one final attempt

Currently, Rohit Sharma has retired from T20Is and tests and is no longer the captain in ODIs either. He continues to feature in ODIs as a player, with an aim to achieve the ODI World Cup trophy in his last attempt. Recently, he played two bilateral ODI series against Australia (202 runs in 3 innings) and South Africa (146 runs in 3 innings), where his cricket score was 348, including 1 century and 3 half-centuries. He will now feature in a couple of domestic matches in the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025/26, where he will play for Mumbai. His next international assignment is a 3-match ODI series against New Zealand, which is set to begin on January 11.