Senior India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin revealed that captain Rohit Sharma and star batsman Virat Kohli cried in the Indian dressing room following the loss in the World Cup 2023 final against Australia in Ahmedabad.
Having won the toss and electing to bowl first, Pat Cummins and his players produced an outstanding display of bowling and fielding, dismissing India for 240. Then, even as India picked 3 Australian wickets for less than 50 runs, Travis Head’s century and Marnus Labuschagne’s half-century were enough to take them over the line with 6 wickets and 7 overs to spare.
This was very likely the last chance to win an ODI World Cup for both Rohit Sharma, 36, and Virat Kohli, 35. Doing it on the Indian soil, especially after winning 10 games heading into the final, would have put this Indian team right up with the great Australian sides of 2003 and 2007. But, the dream didn’t materialize.
R Ashwin, who was part of the Indian squad for the World Cup, revealed that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma cried in the dressing room.
Speaking to S Badrinath on his YouTube channel, Ashwin said, “Yes, we felt the pain. Rohit and Virat were crying. Seeing that it felt bad. Anyways, not meant to be. This team was an experienced team. Everybody knew what to do. And then, it was professional. Everybody knew their routines, warm-ups. I think two natural leaders gave the team the space to do these two and created a vibe.”
Rohit Sharma understands every single person in the team: Ashwin
Ashwin hailed Rohit Sharma for his outstanding captaincy on the field and his leadership off the field in taking time and effort to understand every player.
“Rohit Sharma is an outstanding person. He understands every single person in the team, he knows what each one of us likes and dislikes. He has a great understanding. He puts in the effort to know each member personally.”
Ashwin added, “He puts in a lot of effort. Forgoes sleep and becomes part of meetings, he first puts in the effort. He takes an effort to understand how to explain tactics to each person. That’s an advanced level of leadership in Indian cricket.”
