Lalana Suvarna
Controversy and war of words stormed the Indian women’s camp when Mithali Raj was controversially left out of India’s World T20 team to play the semi-final match against England. According to Raj, she claimed to have been humiliated by her coach and she also wrote a letter stating her grievances. She also added that some of her team mates actually heard about it and took no action to change her coaches decision to be excluded from the squad.
Mithali Raj, in a letter to BCCI, stated that she was humiliated by team coach Ramesh Powar Mithali and Harmanpreet had met BCCI CEO Rahul Johri on Monday. Mithali Raj has accused coach Ramesh Powar of discrimination and also being bias in a letter she addressed to the BBCI. Raj has alleged in that letter that Powar had humiliated her during the World T20 in West Indies.
Raj mentioned that she was hurt and baffled when she realized that her name was left out of the Indian team for the World T20 semi-final.
“…. I would also like to point out that I have nothing. against the T/20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur except for the fact that her call to support the decision of the coach to leave me out of the eleven was baffling and hurtful. I wanted to win the world cup for my country and it hurts me because we lost a golden opportunity.”
Raj also stated the fact that she understood what was at stake for her by writing that letter.
She added “May I say that I am aware that by writing this email I am making myself even more vulnerable. she is a COA member while I am just a player. For the record, I scored back to back fifties in the games before the semi final, was adjudged player of the match on both occasions, to leave me out in the semi final and go with only three performing batters was a decision that left me baffled as much as it left the whole world.”
Raj, who is the leading scorer for India in women’s T20 Internationals, had scored two fifties in two matches and had also won player of the match awards before she was controversially left out of the team facing England in the semifinal.
Not only did the player criticised this decision, Mithali’s manager expressed his lashed out at Harmanpreet. In a tweet which was later deleted, she said: “Unfortunately @BCCIWomen believes in politics not sport. After witnessing what @M_Raj03 ‘s experience could do in IndvIre it’s shocking that they went with what pleases @ImHarmanpreet -a manipulative, lying, immature, undeserving captain.”
India later lost to England by 8 wickets and questions were raised about the team selection.Politics in team selection or not we believe the truth would unveil itself soon we can only wait and see where the saga would lead to and how it’ll be resolved.
