Decided not to watch 2011 ODI World Cup: Indian captain Rohit Sharma shares bittersweet memories

Rohit Sharma-led India is gearing up for the forthcoming home ODI World Cup (ODI WC), which will kick off early October. The Men in Blue will be sweating it out in the 22-yard cricket strip to win the title after 12 years. Back in the 2011 edition, the MS Dhoni-led Indian team went past several heavyweights to lift the coveted trophy after a gap of 28 years and become the first sideto clinch a home 50-over WC.

Thus, Rohit & Co. will have their task cut out to replicate Dhoni-led India's 12-year-old feat. As Hitman recently attended one of the legs of the World Cup Trophy Tour, in Barbados, the 36-year-old recalled some bittersweet memories from the 2011 edition, when he wasn't part of the triumphant Indian squad.

Rohit recalled India's contrasting runs in 2003 and 2007 edition and said, "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, and didn't even qualify after the league stage, so that was quite unfortunate."

'I decided I was not going to watch the World Cup, but again...'

Sharing his memories from the 2011 edition, Rohit opined, "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, the quarter-finals onwards."

"You know, the big quarter-final was against Australia. I know how the pressure is on all these players when playing these games. I can only imagine the pressure that each player must have gone through at that time, and then the semi-finals against Australia. It was a brilliant finish by Yuvi and Raina at the end," he added.

Rohit, who was part of India's 2007 T20 World Cup win, didn't make it to the 2011 ODI WC squad. Back then, India trusted Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan to bolster the middle and lower-order but Hitman failed to make the cut owing to his inconsistency.

During the 2011 edition, India beat teams such as Australia, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka (in the final), etc. to win the trophy. In this year's tournament, Rohit & Co. will open their campaign versus Australia, in Chennai, on October 08 and aim to go the distance and win the championshiponce again, after 2011, and end their ten-year-long ICC title drought.

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