It's often said that time heals everything. Most of the times it could be true, while on some occasions it isn't. Ask any Indian fan if time has healed the world cup final defeat, and the unanimous answer would be no. Time of 30 days has gone past since the forgetful night, so much has happened in between. The rounds of IPL news began in full flow within a week after the loss. A lot happened in Mumbai Indians camp. Young team had their series against Australia, they tasted overseas success against South Africa, the women's team registered historic test victory, the IPL auction has began in full flow just today itself, and yet, after all of this, the minds of every fan of Men in Blue are haven't moved past 19th November 2023.

And similar will still be the case for the fans even for few more days, if not months. Cricket is not just a game for Indians, it's an emotion which unites the country like no other thing has ever done. And the grandest event of the cricketing world happening in the country itself had left the billion cricket crazy fans in frenzy, who dreamt of it every moment as the tournament unfolded. The eager cricket fans were waiting for the ICC trophy drought of a decade to end in the country itself. And what further aided them was the unbeaten streak of Men in Blue with 10 wins on a trot. All these kept a billion hopeful minds alive and pumping with their heart and soul for the much deserved victory. The Indian legends waited for this moment for their entire lives, and lived every moment for their dream to realise and achieve. And all of it was lost, within a period of 8 unfortunate hours a month ago.

It hurt. The loss ended the hopes and shattered the dreams. Particularly knowing that it was the best chance to break the jinx of the ICC titles, and the way team was cruising towards it, it left a deep dent in the minds of fans after seeing the result. The country which was in a joyous mood entering into the finals came to a standstill in a moment, and was left with sheer silence, even with a billion fans there on the streets supporting the team. Silence engulfed the entire nation, as it did to more than a lakh supporters present in the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. As Australia lifted their 6th ODI world cup, India mourned their 8th consecutive loss of the team in ICC knockout events.

What hurt even more is the fact that the team hardly showed any intent going ahead in the match, when the fans were showering love towards them. Barring Rohit Sharma, no batter showed any intent. It's quite staggering to witness that on the same wicket the skipper batted with a strike rate of 150, while others could barely manage a strike rate of around 80. Skipper's wicket and Head's fantastic catch definitely hurt, but the inability of other batters to carry forward as per the strategy in all the previous matches, cost us the game. Mere 2 boundaries in the span of 30 overs is criminal in a crucial match like the World Cup final.

Australians did the homework of how to put us on backfoot, and we did the homework of how to tackle their strategy, instead of how to put pressure on them. Which is why, barring Rohit's attack, the team failed brutally and did not live up to the expectations of being a champion. We couldn't find boundaries, when they found their rhythm to perfection. And if our poor run in the batting wasn't enought, the first ball drop of David Warner by Virat Kohli showed how low on confidence and unprepared we were while defending. And the lows continued to give the fans the lowest moment in their lives, knowing the fact that the same team had reached the finals being the favourites to win it.

The Indian skipper, who makes everyone laugh with his antics and smile with his performance, cried like a baby in the dressing room. It was tough to see the man cry who gave so much sweet memories. It was sad to not see him in the press conference post the match. He gave it all for that dream, which would never be achieved. The nation wept as they saw their superstars Rohit and Virat cry. The loud noise turned into a pin drop silence. The drought continued for Men in Blue. And it left Rohit and co stranded with no ODI world cup to their name, and Virat and Ravichandran Ashwin with just the 2011 World Cup to theirs.

It will continue to haunt generations. As the 2003 World cup final did for many years across generations of players and fans. Centuries of Australians still send the country into a deep state of chaos as they remember them. The Ponting century of 2003 hurt the nation enough, and now the centuries in WTC final as well as World Cup final by Travis Head will continue to do so. Similarly the poor selection of the team in both these ICC finals this year will continue to enrage the fans, as the inclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin in both the WTC as well as World Cup final could've changed the fate of the entire nation. But what's gone is gone, and what remains is just the regret of the unfulfilled dream.

A month is a long period, but a relatively shorter one to forget what happened back then. And if that wasn't enough for even the most die hard fans to give up on watching the game they love, the board's focus on money minting through IPL saddens everyone more. The sheer politics from one of the most successful teams to remove the Indian skipper and the captain who made them 5 times champions is more than enough for the most cheerful fans to stop watching the game. Nothing is going right for Rohit Sharma as well as the fans since the world cup defeat. And it hurts to see the guy who had the longest winning streak for India in World Cups, who played his heart out to be somewhere in despair, disappointed yet unable to express what's in his mind. End is never good, but it should never be this bad. And if it is this bad, it will surely take a lot of time to get out of this and move on. Hoping to see something good for Rohit Sharma, as well as for Indian cricket.