Virender Sehwag breaks his silence on Rohit Sharma’s dismissal in IND vs AUS World Cup final

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma made a quick fire 47 against Australia in CWC 2023 final.

Virender Sehwag was not happy with the way India captain Rohit Sharma got out in the recent ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 final against Australia. Men in blue lost the title match by six wickets in Ahmedabad on November 19.

Coming into the game, India batted first and scored 240 runs in 50 overs. Despite fifties from Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, the team's run rate dipped dramatically after Rohit's dismissal. It was a below-par performance from the team, as thanks to Rohit Sharma’s 47 runs, India had posted 80/2 in the first 10 overs.

But then wickets fell at regular intervals, and Indian batting went into a shell and could only manage to hit just four boundaries in the next 40 overs as they crawled to 240 in 50 overs.

In reply, despite the loss of three wickets at 47 runs, Australia was bolstered by Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, who added 192 runs for the fourth wicket. Marnus remained unbeaten on 58*, but Head made 137 runs, becoming the 3rd Australian to score a century in the World Cup final.

Australia won the match by six wickets with 42 balls remaining and became world champions for the sixth-time .

“Rohit Sharma should not have played that shot," says Virender Sehwag

Sehwag cited Rohit's decision-making as a key blunder. In the 10th over, Rohit, who had been batting confidently, smashed a six and a four off successive deliveries from Glenn Maxwell, making a mistaken move. When attempting to loft Maxwell again, he ended up giving Travis Head a catch, which led to his dismissal.

Sehwag questioned Rohit's decision to play the shot, especially after striking a six and a four. He noted that the coaching staff would almost certainly discuss this with Indian captain, adding that a more cautious approach could have changed the game's dynamics.

"He may or may not be disappointed by it, but team management would certainly be. The coaching staff will tell him that when you have already hit a 6 and a four, you should not have played that shot. But Rohit thought, it was the last over of the Powerplay and he didn't want to let Maxwell go easy. No doubt, it was a bad shot. You gave a chance. If he had played it out, the situation could have been very different," said Sehwag.

Sehwag observed that the wicket seemed entirely different, with subsequent Indian batters struggling to hit shots or rotate the strike effectively.

“But it seemed a completely different wicket after Rohit was dismissed. Neither anyone could hit a shot, nor the batters were able to rotate strike," added the legendary opener.

This was the second time India lost a World Cup final to Australia, the first time being in 2003.