Rohit drops shocking revelation, reveals moment he considered announcing retirement
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Rohit drops shocking revelation, reveals moment he considered announcing retirement")
Rohit Sharma reveals the moment he considered walking away from cricket Photograph: (AFP)
Rohit will feature for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy before returning to the Indian Team for the home ODIs against New Zealand.
The crushing World Cup final defeat at the hands of Australia in 2023 not only broke a billion hearts but also almost led then-Indian captain Rohit Sharma to walk away from the game he loved the most. Rohit’s Men in Blue were the favourites to win the home final against Australia, but fell shy of living their dream at the grandest stage of them all. While the Indian players had an unbearable pain written all over their faces, the former skipper admitted to running away from cricket, as that loss took away everything from him.
“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 while speaking at the Masters’ Union event on Sunday.
Of all the previously held editions, the Indian Team had perhaps the perfect run till the final, winning all matches, including a hard-fought semi, all convincingly though. However, they ran out of luck on the day it mattered the most, losing out to the former five-time winners in a lop-sided finale.
Speaking of how he and the entire dressing room felt after losing that final, Rohit said, “Everybody was extremely 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 became captain.”
Took months to recover mentally
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Losing that final was hard for the skipper, who admitted to taking months to let that feeling sink in and move on with the outcome.
“There was no energy left in my body. It took me a couple of months to recover and bring myself back,” Rohit continued.
Further speaking about what he took from that loss, Rohit said, “I knew life doesn't end there. It was a big lesson — how to deal with disappointment, reset, and start fresh. It's very easy to say this now, but at that moment, it was extremely difficult.”
Meanwhile, as things stand, Rohit is pushing to retain his place in the One-Day side for the next World Cup in 2027 in Africa. He is also named in Mumbai’s Vijay Hazare Trophy squad, and shall return to India’s ODI squad for the three-match series against New Zealand at home next month.
