The exclusion of Mithali Raj for the semi-finals against England in the recently concluded World T20 has been the talk of the town now. While she took a dig against the coach Ramesh Powar and CoA member Diana in her mail to the BCCI, the entire fan base was surprised regarding the treatment to a legend by the staff in an important tournament. Now, for the first time, Ramesh Powar gave his response to the BCCI on the issue.
According to Powar, Mithali always wanted to play for her own records and gave very minimal inputs for the team in the meetings. She wasn”t able to adapt to team plan and understand her role.
Ramesh Powar said that he always tried to get the best out of Mithali Raj in terms of her batting but she struggled to get some runs at a quick pace in the practice sessions. He also stated that Mithali packed her bags and threatened to announce her retirement if she wasn”t given a chance to open the batting against Pakistan.
He said, “Before Pakistan match, video analyst Pushkar Sawant came to my room with news that Mithali is upset about not allowing her to open in Pakistan match. She packed her bags to leave with the announcement of retiring in the morning. I was shell shocked to understand why?”
Powar also stated that to save team”s positive environment and integrity, he allowed her to open the innings and she started to form groups with other players after the game. The rift is currently going in an unexpected manner and it will be interesting how the BCCI would address their grievances to arrive at a profitable solution.
He further added “It gave me an impression that for Mithali Raj, she comes first & then Team India. To save positive team environment & due to her threatening (retirement), we opened with her. After the game, she was making her own group with selected players sitting away from the team. “
It will now be a herculean task for the BCCI to look at the statements from both the sides in a lucid manner. Further details regarding the same are awaited.
