Follow UsNovember 19, 2023, will go down in India’s cricket history book as perhaps one of the darkest days. After ten consecutive wins in the group stage and then the semi-final against New Zealand, India lost the all-important final against Australia in front of 1,00,000 people in Ahmedabad.
While that loss definitely has given the Indian fans plenty of sleepless nights, India’s ODI skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that ‘revenge’ was on their mind too when the two teams met in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Rohit’s aggressive and swashbuckling 41-ball 92 knocked Australia out of the competition.
A few days later, India also became the rightful winners, besting South Africa in the T20 World Cup final, ending their 17-year T20 World Cup drought. Looking back at the moment, Rohit admitted that revenge against Australia was always on the back of his mind.
“The anger was always there. It was in the back of my mind," Rohit said on JioHotstar’s special 'Champions Waali Feeling Phir Se'.
“‘Inhone hamaara 19 November kharaab kar diya, humara nahi poore desh ka (They ruined our 19 November, not just ours but the entire country’s). We should reserve something for them. We should also give them a nice gift’,” he added.
However, Rohit also insisted that while batting in the middle, there weren’t any thoughts about avenging the defeat.
“You have these thoughts in your mind," Rohit added. “But when you’re batting, you’re not thinking, ‘I want to knock them out of the tournament’. Yes, in the dressing room we keep talking about these things. There’s that kind of fun that yes, inko bahar karte hai, maza aayega! (let’s knock them out, it’ll be so fun)."
India later went on to avenge the 2023 ODI World Cup final loss with another win in the 2025 Champions Trophy semi-final against the same opponents.