Former Indian skipper Mithali Raj’s manager has slammed Harmanpreet Kaur for benching the veteran batsman in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final against England on Friday.

Harmanpreet Kaur’s decision to bench the highest ODI run-getter Mithali Raj has been the topic of debate among cricket fans ever since India crashed out of the T20 World Cup after an eight-wicket loss to England.

Mithali’s manager Annisha Gupta called Indian skipper Harmanpreet a “manipulative, lying, immature, undeserving captain”. Gupta even said the women’s team believed in “politics not sport”.

“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,” Annisha’s wrote on Twitter.

Annisha’s reaction came after Harmanpreet Kaur defended the team’s decision to drop Mithali Raj in the post-match presentation. Kaur had said she had “no regrets” for leaving Mithali out of the playing XI at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium at North Sound in Antigua.

Though Annisha later deleted her unverified Twitter handle, she took ownership of the tweets. Mithali’s manager also defended her criticism by saying it came “from the right place”.

“I’d like to say that I don’t know what is going on on the inside but, now that the matches are being telecast, we can see who is performing and who is not,” Annisha Gupta told ESPNcricinfo.

Gupta further said, “And we can see the kind of treatment that Mithali has received despite her brilliant performance and despite showing stability and consistency. The kind of treatment she has received is completely uncalled for and there is something deeper than we need to look at than just the statements that have been coming out.”

“There are statements coming out that they wanted to give younger cricketers a chance but you don’t drop your senior-most, most experienced players in a semi-final against a country like England. It goes beyond giving the youngsters a chance,” Gupta added.

Further defending her Tweet, Annisha said maybe she was “a little angry” but she could not stand the unfair treatment meted out to India’s highest T20I runs scorer.

“Maybe I was a little angry but I think it comes from the right place because I don’t stand for unfair treatment. The kind of favouritism that has been shown is very apparent. I think everybody can see the kind of favouritism that is being shown to certain members of the team,” Annisha added.

On a pitch that needed the brilliant technique and experience of Mithali, Indian team management’s decision to drop veteran batsman cost India the spot in ICC finals. The decision to drop Mithali was also questioned by Harsha Bhogle and Sanjay Manjrekar.