Rohit Sharma's reply to a journalist's question about his participation in next year's T20 World Cup went viral on social media amid Team India's tour of South Africa.

 

Speculation about whether Rohit Sharma will captain Team India in the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the US or not has swirled in recent weeks, particularly after the Men in Blue suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Australia in the 2023 Cricket World Cup final in November.

 

The loss against the Pat Cummins-led side left Rohit Sharma in tears, which he acknowledged was still hurting him.

 

“I had no idea how to come back from this. The first few days I didn't know what to do. You know, my family, my friends, kept me going, kept things pretty light around me, which was quite helpful. It wasn't easy to digest, but life moves on. You have to move on in life. But, honestly, it was tough. It was not so easy to just move on,” Rohit Sharma said in his first comments since India's defeat in the ODI World Cup title clash.

 

“I have always grown up watching 50-over World Cup, and to me that was the ultimate prize. We have worked all these years for that World Cup… and it is disappointing, right? If you don't get through it, and you don't get what you want, what you've been looking for all this while, what you were dreaming of, you get disappointed, and you get frustrated as well at times,” he added.

 

“I thought we did everything we could from our side. If someone will ask me, what went wrong… because we won ten games, and in that ten games, yes, we made mistakes, but that mistake happens in every game that you play. You cannot have a perfect game. You can have a near-perfect game. But you cannot have a perfect game. If I look on the other side of it, I'm really proud of the team as well. Because how we played was simply outstanding. You don't get to perform like that every World Cup. And I am pretty sure I am, at least, how we played up until that final, it would have given people a lot of joy, a lot of pride watching the team play,” Rohit Sharma continued. 

 

“After the final, it was very hard to get back and start moving on, which is why I decided that I need to go somewhere and just 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, they were dreaming of lifting that World Cup, along with us,” the 36-year-old further stated. 

 

“Everywhere we went during this entire World Cup 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 months. But again, if I think more and more about that I feel quite disappointed that we were not able to go through all the way,” Rohit Sharma opined.

 

“For me to see, you know, people coming up to me, telling me that they were proud of the team, you know made me feel really good to a certain extent. And along with them, I was healing as well. I felt, okay these are the kind of things you want to hear. When you meet 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,” he expressed. 

 

However, on Monday, in his press conference in South Africa, Rohit Sharma was asked if he was desperate to win a World Cup title in the Caribbean in the next couple of months.

 

Interestingly, Rohit Sharma has not been part of India's T20 set-up since November 2022 after the Men in Blue lost to eventual winners England in the semifinals of the last edition of the T20 World Cup in Australia.

 

Furthermore, in Rohit Sharma's absence, all-rounder Hardik Pandya was captaining the team in the format. 

 

But Hardik Pandya's ankle injury may have come as a blessing in disguise for Rohit Sharma, considering the former has been out of action for nearly two months and may not be back in action before the Indian Premier League (IPL) in March. 

 

Some media reports even suggest that Hardik Pandya could miss the 2024 IPL, which makes Rohit Sharma the top choice to lead India at the T20 World Cup next year if he takes up that assignment.

“Desperation is there for everyone to play cricket. Everyone wants to play and everyone wants to do well. Wherever they get a chance, they will want to perform well. Mujhe pata hain aap kya bolne ki koshish kar rahe ho, milega aapko, jawab milega uska (I know what you are trying to ask here and you will get your answer,” the Nagpur-born cricketer told reporters on the eve of India's first Test against South Africa in Centurion.

 

“Obviously [moving on] from a loss (ODI World Cup) like that, it is hard. But there's so much happening in life. There's so much cricket happening. You've got to find that strength to move on from that. It took time for me as well to come out of that. But, you know, you gotta look forward. And honestly, we got a lot of encouragement from the outside world after that finals as well. And that motivated me personally to make sure I get up and start doing my job again,” he explained. 

When the media persons asked him if a first-ever Test series triumph in South Africa would heal the wounds of the World Cup loss, Rohit Sharma answered he didn't know if that would be the case.

“We have been coming here for so many years. It will obviously be big if win a series. Now I don't know if a victory here – if we do get it – can be a balm on the World Cup loss. Honestly I don't know. A World Cup is a World Cup. It is very difficult to compare this series and the World Cup, but by itself, this is a very big series,” Rohit Sharma noted.

 

“There is so much history. If we can achieve this, it will feel good to everyone because… we have worked so hard, we need something to show for it. We are working so hard. We need something big. Everyone is desperate for it. Not just one or two seniors. Everybody wants to get big glory for the country and the team. We have all the tools, we just need to play carefree cricket. Our endeavour is to play freely and not think about the past or the future,” he concluded. 

The two-match Test series between India and South Africa will begin at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on Tuesday, with the visitors looking to conquer the “final frontier” in their journey in the whites.