‘I didn’t watch the World Cup…’, Rohit Sharma reveals a difficult phase during ODI WC 2011

Mumbai Indians (MI) and Indian skipper Rohit Sharma reflected on Wednesday on his omission from the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup squad and how it changed his life and game. Rohit did an exclusive interview with JioCinema ahead of his team’s 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) knockout match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Chennai on Wednesday.

Rohit said that his absence from the 2011 Cricket World Cup changed his game and routine a lot and that the year was a “setback” for him. India brought the World Cup home after 28 years, defeating Sri Lanka in the final at Rohit’s home at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. A young Rohit, then an emerging talent, had to watch all of this happen from the sidelines. (‘After Gautam Gambhir left KKR I felt alienated’, Robin Uthappa on why CSK is closer to him)

“2011 was a big setback for me, not being part of the World Cup team, I have no one to blame but myself. I worked on my game. Yoga, meditation and living alone helped me a lot. I I realized something had to change, I knew my life was on the edge and if I didn’t get better I wouldn’t be able to play cricket again I made a lot of changes to myself between 2014 and 2015 because I knew otherwise I would have nowhere to go. to go. I had to think about how I could help my team and take myself to another level. I found the answers myself”, Rohit said in the interview.

“Honestly, I didn’t watch the World Cup itself, except for the semi-finals and the final because I was so disappointed that I didn’t want to watch. Every time I turned on the TV, I felt like I could have been there, what went wrong and stuff like that.” Rohit revealed.

It’s safe to say that Rohit has bounced back in a big way since then. The 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, where he had a chance to open with Shikhar Dhawan, sent the chart of his career on a massive upward trajectory. He scored 177 runs in five innings at an average of 35.40 with two half-centuries in that tournament, which India won. This marked Rohit’s second title win for India after the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 in South Africa. (BCCI will plant 500 trees for every point ball during IPL 2023 playoffs, Jay Shah makes an announcement)

Rohit enjoyed a great 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup with the bat. He scored 330 runs in eight matches at an average of 47.14. He scored these runs at a strike rate of 91.66. A century and two fifty came from his bat, with a best score of 137. India earned a semi-final finish in that tournament.

The ‘Hitman’, as he is known to his fans, continued his remarkable 50+ run at the World Cup in 2019. In that edition of the tournament, he topped the scoring charts with 648 runs in nine matches at an 81.00 average and a strike rate of 98.33. He scored five centuries in the tournament, becoming the only player to do so in a World Cup. He also scored a fifty. His best score was 140. India got another semi-final finish in the tournament.

In total, in 17 World Cup matches, he has scored 978 runs at an average of 65.20 and a strike rate above 95. He has scored six centuries and three half-centuries, with a best of 140.

Now, in 2023, he will lead the India team as captain in the ICC Cricket World Cup in October-November, which will be held in India entirely for the first time.