'My dream is to still win World Cups', Rohit Sharma recalls India's 2019 WC campaign

Rohit Sharma recalled India's 2019 World Cup campaign and said he wished the team could go a little further in that tournament. However, Rohit has said that his dream is still to win World Cups. 

The 'Hitman' had an outstanding tournament where he had notched up five centuries and scored 648 runs in nine matches. However, he failed when it mattered the most and that happened to be in the very first over of the all-important semi-final match against New Zealand. Nonetheless, he was dismissed by an unplayable delivery from Matt Henry who had bowled an incoming length delivery outside off-stump that took the inside edge of Sharma's bat and went straight into the gloves of Tom Latham who made no mistake behind the stumps. His wicket was a huge blow for India as they lost all their top-order batsmen in the first powerplay.

'Wish we could go a little further': Rohit Sharma

It had so happened the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had paid tribute to the limited-overs vice-captain for becoming the first player to score five centuries in a single edition of the World Cup. However, the Mumbai cricketer did not seem to be a happy man and hoped the Men In Blue could go a little further than where it ended and that his dream is still to win World Cups. 

When Dhoni-Jadeja's rescue act went in vain

The Indian bowlers had done a tremendous job in restricting New Zealand to a manageable total of 239. However, their run chase got off to a disastrous start when they were reduced to 5/3 and then 24/4. When the Men In Blue were in a hopeless position at 92/6, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (50) and Ravindra Jadeja (77) carried out the rescue act. The duo added 116 runs for the seventh-wicket stand and at one point, it seemed as if a fourth World Cup final appearance was on the cards. 

However, with the asking rate climbing up, both batsmen had to take risks and Jadeja perished by playing a rash stroke off Trent Boult as he was caught by skipper Kane Williamson at mid-off. The onus was on MS Dhoni to finish things off in style and he kept the fans and viewers on their feet by slashing Lockie Ferguson to a six to the on-side. However, a sharp throw from Martin Guptill on the following delivery saw Dhoni short of his crease when he was running back for a risky second run in order to take the strike. 

The Indian resistance was cut short post his dismissal and it meant that they had to wait for another four years to win their third 50-overs World Cup trophy. The two-time world champions were bundled out for 221 as the Black Caps won the contest by 18 runs to qualify for their second consecutive World Cup final.

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(Image Courtesy: AP)