Rohit Sharma on India’s loss to New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup semi-final

The Men in Blue have been in excellent form in the 2023 World Cup, having won all nine matches in the league stage. They topped the league round of the ODI World Cup four years back in 2019 as well. However, India went down to the Kiwis by 18 runs in the semi-final at Old Trafford in Manchester.

At a pre-match conference ahead of the India-New Zealand semi-final clash in Mumbai, Rohit downplayed the impact of the 2019 loss. He said, “In the back of your mind, you know what has happened in the past,” and added, “but what has happened in the past is the past.

“What you can do today and tomorrow is what we usually talk about. I don’t think there is much debate or talk about what happened 10 years ago or the last World Cup,” ANI quoted the Indian captain as saying.

The 36-year-old also refused to get drawn into comparisons about India’s past ODI World Cup winning teams – 1983 and 2011. He again reiterated that there is no focus on what happened in those two years, but on the present.

“Half of the guys were not even born when we won our first World Cup (1983) and then when we won our second World Cup (2011), half of the guys were not even playing the game. For us, the current crop of players are very much into what can happen today. I don’t see them talking about how we won the last World Cup or the first. The focus is on how they can get better and what are the things they need to improve. The focus is always on the present,” Rohit commented.

While India have not had a great time against New Zealand in ICC events, they broke the 20-year-old jinx against the Kiwis in ICC events by registering a four-wicket win in Dharamsala. Batting first, New Zealand put up 273 as Daryl Mitchell scored 130 off 127. For India, Mohammed Shami claimed 5/54. In the chase, the Men in Blue got home in 48 overs. Virat Kohli guided the chase with 95 off 104 balls.

–By A Cricket Correspondent