Rohit Sharma: 'Imagine if we'd won the final against Australia as well to go undefeated in three ICC tournaments'

India's skipper Rohit Sharma reacts during the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final cricket match between India and Australia (PTI Photo)

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NEW DELHI: Reflecting on India's incredible run in ICC tournaments, Rohit Sharma highlighted the team’s resilience over the past nine months, navigating cricket’s highs and lows. Under his leadership, India won the ICC Champions Trophy and the T20 World Cup , but the only blemish was the heartbreaking defeat to Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup final."Look at what this team has achieved in this big three tournaments. After playing the tournament like that and getting defeated only once, and that too in a final (2023 ODI World Cup)," Rohit said in a video posted by Mumbai Indians on their X (formerly Twitter) handle. "But imagine if we had won that as well to go undefeated in three ICC tournaments is crazy, never heard of, but I will take this, 23 wins in 24 games is unheard of. It looks very nice from the outside, but the team has gone through a lot of ups and downs."We had some really tough times as well, but that is when you've got to celebrate. If you do things like this, you've got to celebrate. I feel that all the people who played these three tournaments deserve respect."Rohit credited India’s success to the shift in mindset that began after their semifinal exit in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. The team focused on clarity, fearless cricket, and collective responsibility."But thereafter, we made a lot of things clear with the players that this is what we expect from you, and this is how we want you to play. So there was a lot of clarity, a lot of conversations with the players to perform," he added."There needs to be freedom amongst the group so that they go out and play without any fear. There were a few lows, a few series that we lost, but we never panicked and we never went away from our thought process. When you are building a squad, the first thing that you need to put in front of you is what the team want. Where did we lack in the previous series, previous tournaments? Why did we not get the results?"Interestingly, Rohit's remarks came on the day when BCCI’s top brass was set to discuss India's future roadmap, though the meeting was later postponed.The journey was not without setbacks. In between the three ICC tournaments, India lost a rare home Test series to New Zealand and struggled in Australia. But Rohit saw these challenges as learning experiences."These nine months are a perfect example of how life is -- it’s always going to be up and down. Any sportsman going through a low wants to fight back, bounce back, and turn things around. And that’s exactly what we did," he reflected.Rohit also opened up about his disappointing 2024 IPL season, where Mumbai Indians finished last. Despite the setback, he remained focused on the bigger picture -- ending his T20I career on a high.He continued, "It (2024 IPL) was a low for the team, and I think we didn't play our best cricket also, and there were so many things after IPL to look forward to.""I knew there was a World Cup coming up and I had to shift my focus to the World Cup, knowing that this is going to be my last T20 World Cup. So I really wanted to make it count, and obviously I knew without the help of other players it is not going to be possible. So we just got around as a group, and there was a lot of collective performance from everyone throughout the tournament," he said.India went on to defeat South Africa by 7 runs in Barbados, securing the T20 World Cup title."My career for 17-18 years has always been up and down, and these nine months were no different," Rohit admitted.Speaking about his journey with Mumbai Indians, he acknowledged the changes over the years, adding, "Obviously, since the time I started till now lot of things have changed because I used to bat middle-order then, now I am opening the batting. I was captain then (MI), but now I am not the captain. There were a few teammates with whom I won championships, they are not there, they are in the coaching role now."So, the roles have changed, a lot of things have changed but the mindset has not changed. What I want to do for this team has not changed, just to go out there and win games and trophies, that is what MI is known for all these years."

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