A few days ago, Mithali Raj’s manager blasted the Indian Women Cricket Team’s captain, Harmanpreet Kaur and called her a manipulative liar who had plotted against Mithali in order to have her dropped.
When the decision to drop Mithali from the WWT20 match against England became public, there was an uproar. Mithali is one of the greatest cricketers the world has seen, and she is also the highest run getter in both men and women’s cricket.
In fact, neither Harmanpreet nor coach Ramesh Powar could provide adequate justification as to why she had been dropped from the team. Yet despite her humiliation, Mithali remained quiet. It was her manager, Annisha Gupta. who spoke up on her behalf.
Recently, Mithali penned a scathing letter to the BCCI, where she accuses Ramesh Powar of humiliating her and unfairly removing her from the team. She was baffled, and could not understand why she had been excluded from the team, despite having put up stellar performances in the past.
She wrote, “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.”
She mentions that writing the letter is risky since it renders her vulnerable. After all, Harmanpreet is the captain and Powar the coach, while she is merely a player. However, she felt that it was important to write the letter, to express her pain and humiliation.
She also writes, “However, for the first time in a 20-year long career, I felt deflated, depressed and let down. I am forced to think if my services to my country are of any value to a few people in power who are out to destroy me and break my confidence.”
Clearly, Mithali is heartbroken. And so are we. We hope valid justification is provided for said actions.
