Mithali Raj is a name synonymous with women’s cricket in India. In her glittering, stain-free and two-decades-long cricketing career, she has rarely been in the news for wrong reasons. The 2018 edition of T20 World Cup, however, comes as an exception.
It all started when Harmanpreet Kaur-led India overlooked the veteran Mithali from the playing XI in the World Cup T20 semi-final against England. India’s semi-final defeat further aggravated the debate as media and fans slammed the selection policy for dropping out India’s most successful player in knockout matches.
The controversy escalated to a whole new level after Anisha Gupta, Mithali’s manager, took to Twitter to express her displeasure and labelled Harmanpreet as “manipulative, lying, immature, undeserving captain”.
Nearly two years since the incident, India’s ODI skipper has opened up on that saga in her recent interview on Star Sports 1 Telugu show ‘Girl Power – Sarileru Manakevvaru’.
Mithali stated that she was disappointed but felt that it was nothing personal from the captain and coach as it was all about balance and composition.
“Honestly, I was quite disappointed that I couldn’t play. But it is something that has happened with every player. I am not the first person with whom this has happened. It is about the team composition and maybe the captain and coach felt that they had a better player to feed into the eleven,” Mithali said.
“But I always had hopes that if we win that match, I may have the chance in the final, I will be able to contribute, and we have a better chance to win the Cup. That was my intention of reaching out to the players in the huddle to pep them up, ‘give your best you, might not get such chances time and again,” she added.
Mithali further talked about ‘Shabaash Mithu’, a biopic based on her life in which Tapsee Pannu is playing the role of the iconic Indian cricketer.
“She is very lively, talkative and she has the spunk. I said, ‘Give me some time, let me get comfortable, I will help you out.”
“Acting is your profession. It will come naturally. What you have to learn is the cover drive. People will relate your cover drive with my cover drive. So, that is something you have to work hard. Tapsee said I gave her stress by mentioning this, but I asked her to better bat properly,” Mithali concluded.
