ODI World Cup 2023: India coach Rahul Dravid opens up on dressing room EMOTIONS after loss in final

India coach Rahul Dravid acknowledged that there were a lot of 'emotions' in the dressing room after the loss against Australia in the ODI World Cup 2023 final on November 19. India, who were undefeated in the tournament, were handed a six-wicket loss by Australia who clinched their sixth ODI World Cup title.

“Yeah, of course, he's (skipper Rohit) disappointed, as are many boys in the dressing room. It wasn't, yeah, there were a lot of emotions in that dressing room," Dravid said at the post-match presentation in Ahmedabad.

The coach, who was part of the team which had lost the 2003 ODI World Cup final against Australia, agreed that it was tough to see the boys hurting.

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"It was tough to see as a coach, because I know how hard these guys have worked, what they've put in, the sacrifices they've made. So, it's tough. I mean, it's tough to see that as a coach, because you get to know these boys personally. You get to see the effort they put in, the hard work that we've put in over the last month, the kind of cricket we've played. But yeah, but that's sport," added Dravid.

Dravid, under whose captaincy India crashed out of the group stage during the 2007 ODI World Cup, also said that the team will keep moving on.

“That happens. It can happen. And the better team won on the day. And I'm sure that the sun will come up tomorrow morning. We'll learn from it. We'll reflect. And we'll move on, as will everyone else. I mean, that's what you do as sportsmen. You have some great highs in sports, and you have some lows in sports. And you keep moving on. You don't stop. Because if you don't put yourself on the line, you don't put yourself in games like these, you don't experience the great highs. And neither do you experience the great lows. And if you don't do that, you don't learn,” he said.

Batting first, India could manage only 240 runs which Australia chased down in 43 overs on the back of Player of the Match Travis Head's 137 off 120.