MUMBAI: Reflecting on the 2023 ODI World Cup, Indian captain Rohit Sharma, in a heartfelt video message for the fans released on @team45ro Instagram on Wednesday, has shared the challenges and emotions experienced during the tournament.
From the profound connection between players and fans to the impact of the game, his words resonate with the trials and triumphs of the World Cup journey that all fans experienced.

“After the final, it was very hard to get back and start moving on, which is why I decided that I need to get my mind out of this. But then, wherever I was, I realised that people were coming up to me and they were appreciating everyone’s effort, how well we played. I feel for all of them. They all, along with us, were dreaming of lifting that World Cup, along with us,” Rohit said.

He added: “Everywhere we went during this entire campaign, there was so much support from everyone who came to the stadium firstly and people who were watching it from home as well. I want to appreciate what the people have done for us, in that one-and-a-half-month period. But again, if I think more and more about that, I feel quite disappointed that we were not able to go all the way.”
The team stepping out to represent the country carried a piece of heart of every Indian, shouldering not only their own expectations but also the hopes of fans worldwide.

Rohit revealed that fans continued to shower them with all love possible, and make their appreciation known to him in whatever brief moments he came across them.
“For me, to see people coming up to me and telling me that they were proud of the team, (it) made me feel good. Along with them, I was healing as well. I felt, okay these are the kind of things you want to hear,” Rohit said.
He further said, “People, when they understand what the player must be going through and when they know these kind of things and not to bring out that frustration, that anger, it means a lot for us. For me, definitely it meant a lot because there was no anger, it was just pure love from people that I met and it was wonderful to see that. So it gives you motivation to get back and start working again and look for another ultimate prize.”

Rohit has been a cricketer who has seen success par excellence. Years of training, from sweating it out as a young kid dreaming big in the hustle of Mumbai to captaining India at the biggest cricketing stage possible, a sense of intuition, muscle memory seemed to have taken over as Rohit has let his bat dictate proceedings.
Rohit walked out each time this tournament with an aura of assurance around him as a leader. From giving impactful starts, to making timely tactical moves that turned games around.
“I’ve always grown up watching the 50-over World Cup. To me that was the ultimate prize, the 50-over World Cup. We’ve worked all these years, for that World Cup. And it is disappointing, right? If you don’t get through it, don’t get what you want, what you’ve been looking for all this while, what you were dreaming of, you get disappointed. You get frustrated as well at times,” Rohit concluded.