Harmanpreet Kaur’s call to support the decision of the coach was baffling and hurtful: Mithali Raj

Mithali Raj broke her silence after being benched for India vs England ICC Women’s World T20 semi-final fixture – which India went on to lose – in a letter to the BCCI with scathing remarks on India coach Ramesh Powar and CoA member Diana Edulji. In the letter she also stated that she felt hurtful...

Mithali Raj broke her silence after being benched for India vs England ICC Women’s World T20 semi-final fixture – which India went on to lose – in a letter to the BCCI with scathing remarks on India coach Ramesh Powar and CoA member Diana Edulji. In the letter she also stated that she felt hurtful with fact that skipper Harmanpreet Kaur supported the coach’s decision to leave her out of the match at Antigua on Friday (November 23).

ALSO READ: Mithali Raj lashes out at coach Ramesh Powar, CoA member Diana Edulji in letter to BCCI

“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,” said Mithali.

ALSO READ: Mithali Raj’s full letter to BCCI – I couldn’t control my tears having given it my all for 20 years

“I wanted to win the world cup for my country and it hurts me because we lost a golden opportunity. But I am of the opinion that Harman and I are senior players and our issues, if any, should be sorted out by the two of us by sitting across the table. As India’s 50 over captain, I value Harman as one of our best players and will always want to ensure that the two of us perform our best for India,” said added.

ALSO READ: Mithali Raj lashes out at coach Ramesh Powar, CoA member Diana Edulji in letter to BCCI

Harmanpreet, was the second highest run-maker during the tournament after Australia opener Alyssa Healy, aggregated 183 runs including a match-winning 103 in the tournament opener against New Zealand.

ALSO READ: Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur meet top BCCI officials, coach Ramesh Powar summoned

Mithali, who had missed the last pool game against eventual champions Australia as she was recovering from a knee injury, was available for the crucial game against England. In the two innings Mithali played in the tournament, she scored 51 and 56, against Ireland and Pakistan respectively.

ALSO READ: CoA did not ask for Mithali Raj’s fitness logs, Saba Karim will meet players: Diana Edulji

Harmanpreet defended the decision to keep Mithali out of the eleven, saying “whatever we decided, we decided for the team”. However, she was slammed by the latter’s manager Annisha Gupta, who claimed that the 35-year-old was a victim of politics and favouritism.

ALSO READ: I was not disappointed to see Mithali Raj sit out for the ICC Women’s World T20 semi-final: Sourav Ganguly

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