'Yes, we have not won; it’s fine': Rohit Sharma on managing World Cup expectations and ICC title drought

India captain Rohit Sharma is not bothered about the national team’s ICC title drought as the Men in Blue get ready for the Cricket World Cup 2023 at home. The last time the ODI World Cup took place in India was in 2011 and it was also the last time India won the 50-over World Cup. Their last ICC title came in 2013 when they won the Champions Trophy in England.

World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table

Since then India lost in the T20 World Cup final in 2014, the final of the Champions Trophy in 2017, the semi-finals of the 2016 T20 World Cup, the 2019 ODI World Cup, and the 2022 T20 World Cup.

India, the No 1 ODI side and hosts, are billed as the favourites for the 2023 World Cup but as they get ready for the tournament the Men in Blue have been often reminded of their 10-year-long title drought. Captain Rohit, in an interview with The Indian Express, has said that he is not going to allow the past failures to impact India’s upcoming campaign.

“Yes, we have not won; it’s fine! I’m not a person who overthinks and puts myself in a tough place where I’m not able to make a decision. England started winning now; in 2019 they won the World Cup after so many years. It happens. Australia is the only consistent team who have won. After 2007, they won the ODI World Cup in 2015. They won the T20 World Cup in Dubai,” Sharma said.

India at World Cup: Factbox and All you need to know

Rohit, however, admitted that the expectations in India are very high with respect to the upcoming World Cup.

“What people are expecting we can’t control. In India wherever we go, be it airports or hotels, they say, ‘World Cup jeetna hai sir’ (You have to win the World Cup). It happens everywhere. It will never stop,” he added.

With another World Cup at home, a comparison with the 2011 team which won the trophy under the captaincy of MS Dhoni si inevitable. On the same, Rohti said that the 2011 unit had more experienced players.

“In the 2011 team, everybody was a big name. Did any position change? No. You suddenly didn’t have to bring Harbhajan Singh at number 4-5 because all the guys are match winners in the positions that they play. Now we have a lot of newer faces. We had an injury problem, two players (Rahul and Shreyas) are making a comeback after two months. So, things looked different and selection calls had to be made,” he said.