Speaking in a candid address at the Masters Union Convocation 2025 in Gurugram on December 21, former Indian captain Rohit Sharma admitted that he had seriously thought about retiring from cricket after the loss to Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup final.
“After the 2023 World Cup final, I was completely heartbroken and I felt that I don’t want to play this game anymore because it had taken away everything from me and I felt that I had nothing left,” Rohit said. He described this defeat as very personal, because he had put a lot of emotional and physical energy into it since taking over the captaincy in 2022, and his only goal was to win the World Cup.
India had a brilliant campaign, reeling off 10 consecutive wins to reach the Ahmedabad final, but Travis Head’s century sealed a six-wicket defeat. Rohit was completely devastated by this defeat, it took him months to recover by pulling himself together and remembering his love for the game.
Less than a year later, his courage paid off and Rohit led India to the 2024 T20 World Cup title. He later led the team to victory in the 2025 Champions Trophy, after which he retired from T20 and Test cricket and was removed as ODI captain.
At the age of 38, Rohit is still playing ODIs, with one last goal: to complete his unfinished business by winning the 2027 ODI World Cup.
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