India’s T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and her deputy Smriti Mandhana shared coach Ramesh Powar’s view to drop Mithali Raj from playing XI in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final against England on Friday.
According to a report in the Times of India, a selection meeting took place after the first semifinal between Australia and the West Indies that the Southern Stars won by 71 runs. The playing XI for the semi-final against England was finalised by the team management “after watching how the wicket behaved in the first semifinal.”
The said meeting took place at 6 pm on Friday after the training session. Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, coach Ramesh Powar and selector Sudha Shah met to finalise the playing XI and decided to drop Mithali Raj.
India’s highest run scorer in T20I, Raj was in decent form. She had scored back-to-back half-centuries in the matches against Pakistan and Ireland before being rested for the final group game against Australia due to a niggle.
In a report in possession of TOI, team manager Trupti Bhattacharya wrote about the decisions taken ahead of the game. “I, as manager, convened the meeting. They (captain, coach and selector) discussed the wicket and the coach expressed that the same winning combination against Australia should play. Harman and Smriti shared the same view and also told the selector, Sudha Shah, that an extra bowler would help the team”.
Trupti further wrote, “Sudha Shah agreed to the XI and did not express anything”.
However, now after India’s embarrassing loss in the semifinals, the manager’s report is expected to raise controversy as women-in-Blue takes a long flight back home.
Meanwhile, Harmanpreet Kaur defended the team management’s decision to drop Mithali during the post-match presentation. “Whatever we decided, we decided for the team. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, no regrets,” she had said after an eight-wicket loss to England.