Rohit Sharma looked back on India’s emotional journey from the heartbreak of losing the 2023 ODI World Cup final to the joy of lifting two ICC trophies in a row.
Speaking at the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards, the former Indian captain said the turnaround was years in the making and credited every player for buying into the team’s vision.
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With the 2024 T20 World Cup and 2025 Champions Trophy wins under his leadership, Rohit said it was the “process and belief” that finally helped India cross the line.
How did Rohit Sharma and Team India rebuild after the 2023 heartbreak?
Rohit recalled that the 2023 final loss to Australia at home left the whole team heartbroken, but it also became a turning point.
According to him, the team came close to winning big tournaments before but could not quite finish the job. After that disappointment, the group collectively decided to change how they approached the game.
"Look, I love that team. I loved playing with them. And it's the journey that we were all into for many years. It's not about one year of work or two years of work. It was about getting into work from many years," said Rohit.
"And we have come so close of, you know, winning that trophy many times, but we couldn't just get over the line. And that is where everyone decided that we need to do something different," he added.
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Rohit further said that the players agreed to challenge themselves more, avoid complacency and maintain hunger.
"There's always a thought of doing that and then actually going and doing that. And it cannot be done by one or two players. You need everyone to buy into that thought. All the guys who took part in that competition got into that thought process of how to win games and how to challenge ourselves and not be complacent and not to take anything for granted," said Rohit.
What was the mindset behind India’s revival under Rohit’s leadership?
Rohit revealed that much of the planning started during Rahul Dravid’s coaching tenure, and the foundation continued under Gautam Gambhir, who took charge before the Champions Trophy.
Rohit said that even though India lost the 2023 World Cup final, the team had played really well throughout the tournament and did not feel like much had gone wrong.
"2023, although we didn't cross the line in the finals, but we set out to do something as a team and everyone did that. But yeah, that one game just went against us, but I don't think we did many things wrong," said Rohit.
He explained that they didn’t need to make big changes after that and instead, they focused on continuing the same approach.
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"So there was not many changes that we needed to do in the squad or how we played. We just wanted to continue from where we left. And then we went to Dubai, understood what is needed, what are the conditions like, how we can get our combinations right. And then we followed that method," he added.
What’s next for Rohit Sharma after stepping down as captain?
Rohit has now been replaced by Shubman Gill as India’s captain in both ODIs and Tests. Still, he remains part of the squad for the upcoming ODI series against Australia, starting October 19.
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