Shubman Gill shares HEARTFELT post, vows for strong comeback after India lose World Cup to Australia

Rohit Sharma-led India were demolished by Pat Cummins' Australia in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 edition's final on Sunday (Nov 19) in Ahmedabad. Being asked to bat first at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium, India only managed 240 in 50 overs with skipper Rohit (40), Virat Kohli (54) and KL Rahul (66) being the top-performers. The target was always below-par and Australia chased it down in 43 overs with six wickets in hand.

Despite reeling at 47 for 3 at one point, Australia came back resolutely and went past India comfortably due to Travis Head's 137 and Marnus Labuschagne's 58 not out. After the game, many Indian players were emotional as the fans were also left shattered. As the dust has settled down on the heavy defeat, many Indian cricketers have reacted to the lost opportunity and opener Shubman Gill also joined the bandwagon.

The 24-year-old Gill, who missed the first two games in CWC 2023 due to dengue, shared a heartfelt post on X, formerly Twitter. He wrote, "Been almost 16 hours but still hurts like it did last night. Sometimes giving your everything isn’t enough. We fell short of our ultimate goal but every step in this journey has been a testament to our team’s spirit and dedication. To our incredible fans, your unwavering support in our highs and lows means the world to us. This isn’t the end, it’s not over until we win. Jai Hind"

Also read: India played fantastically well in CWC 2023: Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi lauds hosts despite loss in final

Talking about Gill's campaign, the right-hander amassed 354 runs in nine matches at an average of 44.25 and a strike rate of 106.94. He managed four fifties but fell cheaply in the summit clash, getting out for 4.

By the time the next ODI WC comes, in 2027 in South Africa, Gill is expected to be having more responsibilities on his shoulders and the star batter will hope to guide the team to the coveted title.

'We were not good enough today'

At the post-match presentation of the final, Indian captain Rohit opened up on the loss. He said, "The result has not gone our way. We were not good enough today. We tried everything but it wasn't supposed to be. 20-30 runs more would have been good, KL and Kohli were stitching a good partnership and we were looking at 270-280 but we kept losing wickets. When you have 240 on the board, you want to take wickets but credit to Head and Labuschagne who stitched together a big partnership and put us completely out of the game. We tried everything we could but I feel wicket got slightly better to bat under lights. Don't want to give that as an excuse."

This became Australia's sixth men's ODI WC triumph; most by any team. Meanwhile, India's wait for an ICC title continues with their last major success coming in 2013 when they won the Champions Trophy, under MS Dhoni, in England and Wales.