PM Narendra Modi visits Indian dressing room after World Cup heartbreak, comforts players with pep talk and hugs

The Indian team played the final of the ICC World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, but they were defeated by the Australian team, who won the coveted trophy for the record sixth time. PM Narendra Modi who was in attendance, visited Team India's dressing room following the disappointing loss by the hands of Australia and consoled dejected players.

In the same vein, he spent some time with the players and pepped up the dressing room with some words of motivation and consolation. During his interaction PM Modi took the hands of skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to show his empathy and said that winning and losing is a part of the game and we should not get bogged down by it.

"Cheer up! This happens, you all worked hard throughout the tournament (ye hota rehta hai, ap sabne bahut mehnat ki)," PM Modi said during his interaction with the Indian players.

Furthermore, he shook hands with all the players patted Mohammed Shami's back and complimented him for his incredible performances during the ODI World Cup. Besides, he also met KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shreyas Iyer and Jasprit Bumrah. Moreover, he invited Team India to come down to New Delhi and see him at his residence in the near future.

Watch PM Modi's interaction with Team India here:

In the match, the Indian team batted first and got off to a strong start with Rohit Sharma taking charge to help India score 76 runs in the first power play. However, they also lost two important wickets with Gill being dismissed cheaply and Rohit after scoring 47. 

Despite fifties from Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, India only managed to score 240 runs in their 50 overs. With the expected dew, it was going to be a tough task for India to defend the score, and Australia ended up comfortably chasing it down, winning by six wickets thanks to a brilliant hundred by Travis Head and a fifty by Labuschagne.

20-30 runs more would have been good: Rohit

After the match, Indian captain Rohit admitted that they were at least 20-30 runs short and praised the partnership of Head and Labuschagne. 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, credit to Travis 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. We didn't put enough runs on the board,” Rohit said.

He admitted that after taking the initial three wickets, it was only a matter of one more wicket but they couldn't get that prized scalp of Head.

“With the seamers upfront, we took those 3 wickets and another wicket there, we could open up the game. Credit to those two guys in the middle for stitching an outstanding partnership,” Rohit added.