(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] Rohit Sharma is all set to play his third consecutive ICC ODI Cricket World Cup, starting from October 5, but this time as a captain. He will lead the Indian team for the first time ever in a 50-over World Cup.
The last time Rohit played in an ODI World Cup was in 2019 under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. In that quadrennial tournament, he had scored five centuries, the most by an player in a single World Cup. However, he did not get to hold the trophy as India got knocked out by New Zealand in the semi-finals played at Birmingham, losing by 18 runs.
This time, the responsibility on his shoulders will be doubled as he carries the million hopes of every Indian to end the drought of an ICC Trophy, and he has the perfect opportunity to do so given the form of the team.
In an interview with journalist Vimal Kumar, Rohit expressed his desire to win the upcoming World Cup. He believes that scoring hundreds won’t matter as much as winning the title.
“I will try to perform well and be in a good frame of mind because that is what had happened in 2019 World Cup. I had practised really well that year. That is what I want this year as well. But again that was 2019, it’s 2023 now. We have this tendency of wanting things the way it happened in the past. Yes I scored 5 centuries last time but we also lost the World Cup. So everything should not fall in place like in 2019 World Cup,” Rohit said in an interview premiered on Vimal Kumar’s YouTube channel.
“I don’t care if I score one or two hundreds or not a single at all, I want to win the World Cup. It doesn’t matter who scored how many hundreds, World Cup trophy matter. If you can’t win that, it will be a disappointment,” he added.
In the 2019 World Cup, the 36-year-old opening batter played 9 matches and scored 648 runs with an average of 81 and a strike rate of 98.33. His five hundreds in the tournament against South Africa in Southampton, Pakistan in Manchester, England in Birmingham, Bangladesh in Birmingham, and Sri Lanka in Leeds.