Just less than 24 hours before the carnival that is the 2023 World Cup begins, captains of all the 10 participating teams joined together for the captain's day roundtable in Ahmedabad. The highlight of the event was a bizarre incident which saw Rohit Sharma slam a reporter's question about the outcome of the 2019 World Cup.
One of the journalists asked the Indian captain if he would have announced England and New Zealand as joint winners after the super over was tied in the final. Sharma was visibly annoyed by the question and his response brought out a big laughter in the event room.
“Kya hai yaar,” Sharma blurted out in his typical laidback style, which can be loosely translated to ‘What is this'. He then added, “This is not my job to announce the winners.”
While Pakistan captain Babar Azam and Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan laughed along with the audience, the non-Hindi and non-Urdu speaking captains did not understand what was happening. Babar was seen explaining the incident to Jos Buttler – the current England skipper and member of their 2019 squad.
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To refresh the memory, the 2019 World Cup final was one of the greatest matches the sport has witnessed but it also had a controversial ending. The match went into the super over after England were bowled out for 241. In the super over England made 15 runs while New Zealand also scored the same, with Martin Guptill getting run out on the final ball while trying to get a double. England were declared the winners of the World Cup on the boundary countback – that is more boundaries hit in the normal match.
The rule was agreed upon by all the participating teams before the tournament but despite that, there was outrage from fans and experts alike. Many felt Kane Williamson's New Zealand were unlucky and the trophy should've been shared.
The Captain's Day roundtable also saw Rohit Sharma answer several other questions ahead of the high-pressure home World Cup.
Both of India's warm-up matches against England and Netherlands were washed out due to rain.
When asked about whether not getting any game-time in warm-ups hampered India's preparation, Rohit Sharma in his quirky way, said they are happy to get some rest.
“We are happy to get some off days, because so much heat and travelling from one side of India to the other side, so we are happy to get off time,” he said with a smile.
India will kick off their World Cup campaign with a blockbuster clash with Australia in Chennai on Sunday, October 8.
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