Rohit Sharma reveals that he had thought of retirement after India lost ODI World Cup 2023 final

Rohit Sharma had contemplated retirement after the heartbreaking loss to Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup final, the former India captain said on Sunday.

Under Rohit’s captaincy, India enjoyed a dream run in that World Cup, marching into the final with nine consecutive wins. However, Australia dashed its hopes with a six-wicket win, riding on Travis Head’s match-winning century.

“After the 2023 World Cup final, I was completely distraught and felt like I didn’t want to play this sport anymore because it had taken everything out of me and I felt I had nothing left,” Rohit said during a Masters Union event in Gurugram.

“It took some time, and I kept reminding myself that this is something I truly love, that it was right in front of me, and I couldn’t let it go so easily. Slowly, I found my way back, regaining the energy and getting myself moving again on the field.

“Everybody was extremely disappointed, and we just couldn’t believe what had happened. It was a very tough time for me personally because I had put everything into that World Cup, not just two or three months before it, but ever since I took over the captaincy in 2022,” he added.

Less than a year after that loss to Australia in Ahmedabad, Rohit led the Indian team to the T20 World Cup title in the Americas, but overcoming the pain of the defeat in November 2023 was extremely difficult.

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“I guess when you invest so much into something and don’t achieve the result, it’s a very natural reaction. That’s exactly what happened with me. But I also knew that life doesn’t end there,” Rohit added.

“It was a big lesson for me on how to deal with disappointment, reset, and start fresh. I knew that something else was coming at the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies, and I had to shift all my focus towards that.

“It’s very easy to say this now, but at that moment, it was extremely difficult.”

Published on Dec 22, 2025