"It was the worst time, blame myself for it" - Rohit Sharma recalls heartbreak at not being picked for 2011 World Cup

Team India opener Rohit Sharma has admitted that being overlooked for the 2011 World Cup was the worst moment of his international career. Rohit, however, refused to blame anyone, instead conceding that he probably didn’t do well enough in the build-up to the mega event.

Rohit Sharma made his white-ball debut in 2007 and impressed in the inaugural T20 World Cup that India won that year. However, after a string of disappointing performances, he was not picked for the 2011 World Cup.

Recalling that period in his career, Rohit Sharma told Dinesh Karthik in an interview on Sky Sports that he wanted to be part of the team and "make a difference".

“It was the worst time. I was quite desperate to get into the team and do something for the team at that point. You know you would be playing in front of your home crowd. I knew we had the best chance of winning the World Cup. I wanted to be part of that and make a difference. Somewhere down the line, I blame myself for it. I don’t want to blame anyone for it. It is just that I did not have a great run may be slightly before that.”

Following the disappointment of missing out on the World Cup at home, Rohit Sharma made a strong comeback to the limited-overs set-up and is now recognized as one of the finest openers in white-ball cricket. He is the only player in world cricket with three double hundreds in One-dayers.

Fifty up for Rohit Sharma!Can he convert this into a hundred? 👀#WTC23 | #ENGvIND | https://t.co/rhWT86mZ0z pic.twitter.com/1XNd8HWAOa
— ICC (@ICC) August 12, 2021

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In a way, missing out on 2011 World Cup was good for me: Rohit Sharma

Although missing out on the 2011 squad that won the World Cup at home was a massive disappointment for Rohit Sharma, the opener believes the setback proved to be a blessing.

“That kind of setback was needed to improve myself, to understand my game better. Everyone wants to be part of the World Cup but, in a way, it did good to me. I came back as a different person. I started learning more about my batting and what I need to do from hereon. I changed everything - my mindset and a little bit of technical aspect of my game as well.”

“Before the World Cup, I wouldn’t want to say that I was not giving that importance while playing for India. But because my batting position kept changing, I was not able to adapt. That pushed me a little back because you need to change your game based on where you bat,” he added.