Mithali Raj accuses coach Ramesh Powar of humiliating her
Legendary Indian batter Mitahli Raj has accused coach Ramesh Powar of humiliating her during the recently-concluded Women's T20 World Cup.
She has accused Powar of discrimination and bias in a letter addressed to the BCCI. She has admitted that she was baffled at the decision to leave her out of the semi-final which India lost to England and pointed out that Powar had issues with her ever since the team landed in the Caribbean islands.
"My issues with the coach started immediately as we landed in the West Indies. At first, there were small signs that his behaviour towards me was unfair and discriminatory but I did not bother much about it. Right from the Sri Lanka tour to Australia A matches I opened the innings and in the World Cup warm-up games too I had done the same. One day before the game after I came out of the nets, he walked up to me and informed me that he wanted me to bat in the middle order as we needed depth in the middle order against New Zealand. For instance, walking off if I am sitting anywhere around, watching in the nets when others bat but choosing to walk away when I am batting in nets if I try to go up to him to talk to start looking into his phone and keep walking. It was embarrassing and very evident to everyone that I was being humiliated," she wrote in a letter to BCCI.
The decision to drop Mithali in the semis created a lot of controversies as many fans pointed fingers at the team management for taking such a huge decision and Mithali's manager Aneesha Gupta went a step further and termed skipper Harmanpreet Kaur "manipulative, lying, immature, undeserving captain" on Twitter for dropping her client.
Mithali cleared the air surrounding Kaur as she affirmed that her relationship with the right-hander is still intact and Kaur had no other option but to obey the coach's order ahead of the game.
"I would also like to point out that I have nothing against the T20 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," Mithali addressed in the letter which was reported by India Today.
Also read: Mithali Raj's manager slams skipper Harmanpreet Kaur