Former Indian captain Rohit Sharma recently talked about a psychological shift he experienced following the 2019 ODI World Cup. Despite a historic individual performance where he amassed 648 runs and a record-breaking five centuries, the tournament ended in heartbreak as India suffered an 18-run defeat to New Zealand in the semifinal.
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I scored so many runs there, but we did not win the World Cup: Rohit Sharma
Reflecting on that exit, Rohit admitted that the loss forced him to re-evaluate his priorities as a batter. He confessed that the sheer volume of his personal runs felt hollow in the face of the team's elimination, leading him to question the true value of individual milestones if they do not ultimately result in securing a trophy for the country.
“The 2019 World Cup was a big lesson for me. I scored so many runs there, but we did not win the World Cup. So I asked myself, what is the use of this? What will I do with these runs? Yes, they remain in your statistics column and all that, but for me, that was of no real use. That is when I decided that I would play for what makes me happy,” Rohit said on JioHotstar’s ‘Captain Rohit Sharma’s Roadmap for T20 World Cup’ show.
“That is why I started thinking differently in 2020. What I eventually implemented in 2022 and 2023 took me two years to adapt to, from 2020 to 2022. I realised that I had to play with intent and without any fear. Otherwise, it does not matter how many times I got out in the 40s or in the 90s; it never bothered me at all,” he added.
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India is a very stats-obsessed country: Rohit
Hitman also talked about a major cultural shift he implemented during his tenure as captain. He explained that one of his primary goals was to eradicate the 'stats-obsessed' mindset that often influences players' decision-making on the field. By encouraging his teammates to move away from prioritizing individual milestones and averages, he sought to foster an environment where every player felt empowered to take risks for the good of the team. This philosophy aimed to ensure that tactical choices were driven by the specific needs of the match rather than a desire to protect personal records.
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“India is a very stats-obsessed country. We love talking about stats. Even among players, it is often about, ‘I scored so many runs, I did this, I did that.’ I had to take all of that out. Because at the end of the day, if you do not have a World Cup, all those stats do not matter. What will you do after 20 or 25 years with those runs and everything else? In my view, and this is my personal thinking, what really matters is having successful campaigns and winning trophies. That defines your career, that is when you can say that you have been successful in your cricketing career. This is my belief, this is what I think,” Rohit concluded.