When India named their squad for the 2011 ODI World Cup, a certain Rohit Sharma failed to make the cut despite being part of the set up for nearly four years, packing an experience of 61 matches. Disappointed at missing the bus, Rohit would watch his teammates lift the trophy from a distance at the Wankhede Stadium.
While he has moved on from that, the current India Test and ODI captain recalled how he decided to not watch the world cup back then.
“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,” Rohit told ICC.
“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, quarter-finals onwards. You know, the big quarter-final was against Pakistan. I know how the pressure is on all these players when playing these games. I can only imagine the pressure what each player must have gone through at that time, and then the semi-finals against Australia,” he added.
Rohit eventually realised his dream of playing in ODI World Cup for India in 2015 and then produced a record-breaking show at the 2019 edition when he blasted five centurie.
“And 2015 and 2019, I was a part of it, which felt really good to play the World Cup. We went to the semi-finals, tried everything we could to go to the finals and play well in the finals, but again, a very unfortunate incident where we couldn’t go through to the finals,” Rohit recalled.
With India hosting the ODI showpiece for the first time since 2011, Rohit is hopeful that the wait will end this time around as the team is trying everything to be in the best possible state to lift the trophy.
“But hopefully, you know, we are back home again, so hopefully we can turn things around and it’s still a long way to go. And you know you can’t win the World Cup in one or two days. You got to play well for an entire month, month and a half, and be consistent. So you know, we are trying everything we can, from our perspective to make sure we are ready for the World Cup,” Rohit said.
“I know for a fact that every ground, every venue that we will be travelling to will get massive support. You know, it’s the World Cup, so everyone is looking forward to this and the World Cup coming back to India after 12 years… you know 2011 was the last time we played a 50-over World Cup. We played a 20-over World Cup in 2016 but a 50-over World Cup after 12 years in the country, people are quite excited and we can see the buzz already back home. I’ll be looking forward to playing in all venues. They all have their own charm and specialty, so I would like to embrace that,” he added.
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