India’s coach, Rahul Dravid, commended captain Rohit Sharma as “an exceptional leader” despite the team’s loss in the Cricket World Cup final against Australia on Sunday. The hosts, who entered the match as favorites after an undefeated streak in the tournament, fell short as Australia secured a six-wicket victory.
Rohit Sharma played a crucial role, scoring a brisk 47, but Australia’s bowling efforts restricted India to 240 despite notable contributions from Virat Kohli (54) and KL Rahul (66).
Dravid expressed praise for Sharma’s leadership, stating, “I think he has been an exceptional leader. Rohit has really led this team fantastically well. He has given so much of his time and energy in the dressing room with the boys, always available for any of our conversations.”
Highlighting Sharma’s batting performance, Dravid added, “His batting was fantastic. It set the tone for us. We knew we wanted to play a certain way, a positive attacking brand of cricket, and he was committed to doing that. He wanted to lead by example, and all through the tournament, he was quite superb.”
Australia’s Travis Head played a crucial role in the chase, smashing 137 to guide Australia to victory with 42 balls to spare, securing their sixth World Cup title. Despite the disappointment, Dravid acknowledged India’s overall performance, saying, “It was a great privilege to play in front of our fans, and I thought the team did really well and really entertained the fans.”
Reflecting on the campaign, he added, “While there may be some disappointments today, I think there’s a lot of joy that this team has given to the people over the last couple of months.”
