Coach Ramesh Powar humiliated me at World T20, says Mithali Raj

Agencies
November 28, 2018

New Delhi, Nov 28: Senior Indian woman cricketer Mithali Raj on Tuesday slammed Committee of Administrators member Diana Edulji and coach Ramesh Powar, saying the two are biased against her and have tried to "destroy" her.

In a scathing e-mail to the BCCI, Mithali said her axing from the World T20 semifinal against England reduced her to tears and left her the most deflated in her over two-decade long career.

In the note to BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and GM (Cricket Operations) Saba Karim, one of India's finest batswomen alleged that she was disrespected by the duo of Edulji and Powar.

"...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," Mithali, also the ODI captain, wrote in her mail.

While Powar refused to comment on Mithali's allegations, Edulji could not be reached for a response.

Mithali spoke about how Edulji's stance backing her axing, made her feel "vulnerable". Edulji, in an interview to PTI, had stated that the team management's decision could not be questioned on selection matters.

"To put things in perspective, I have always reposed faith in Diana Edulji and have always respected her and her position as a member of the CoA.

"Never did I think she will use her position against me, more after hearing what all I had to go through in the Caribbean as I had spoken to her about it," Mithali wrote.

A source alleged that Mithali was forced by Edulji to divulge the details of her meeting with Johri and Karim on Monday.

"Her brazen support in the press with regard to the decision of my benching in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup has left me deeply distressed, more because she knows the real facts having spoken to me," the player wrote.

Mithali has played 85 T20Is for India and has scored 2288 runs. She averages more than 50 in both the Test and ODI formats.

"May I say that I am aware that by writing this email I am making myself even more vulnerable. She is a CoA member while I am just a player," she lamented.

"But the brazen support of a CoA member is a clear sign of bias and also that a stance has already been taken against me. By saying 'I don't support someone' and then going all out to support my benching in the press is prejudice of the clearest sort," said Mithali.

She, however, made it clear that she has no hard feelings for T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who was a party to the decision of her being dropped for the semifinals and stood by it even after the defeat.

However, her relationship with Powar hit nadir in the West Indies and Mithali said she still hasn't understood the breakdown.

"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," she alleged.

She said that Powar's behaviour caused her "stress".

"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," she said.

"It was embarrassing and very evident to everyone that I was being humiliated. Yet I never lost my cool.

"Finding the situation completely out of control and realising that it is important to resolve issues as it affects the team I reached out to the team manager and conveyed my grievances."

According to Mithali things went from bad to worse after that.

"After the meeting his behaviour turned worse. He would not even acknowledge me. To him I didn't exist in the team.

"If I was around he would immediately move away from the scene, if I looked to wish him he would deliberately start looking in other direction. He continued to behave badly as I have already informed you yesterday. It appeared to me that for him the meeting had hurt his ego."

Mithali said she was even asked not to show up at the ground by Powar during the game against Australia.

"In the evening after the team meeting before the Australia game, Ramesh rings up in my room and instructs me not to come to the ground as the media will be there," she alleged.

"I was taken aback as to what media has to do with me being with the team. I was told I was not to be with my own team in one of our biggest games. I was shell shocked."

Mithali said Powar also deliberately ignored her at nets to make it clear she won't play the semi-finals after which she broke down.

"It was worrying and insulting because the coach was out to destroy and humiliate me," she wrote.

"I couldn't control my tears having given it my all for 20 years. It seemed my efforts had no value."

Comments

Mohammed
 - 
Thursday, 29 Nov 2018

Mithali Raj, Best batswomen of India. Proud of India.

 

We are with u Mithali Raj.

 

True Cricket Fan.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Hamilton, Jan 27: In awe of Jasprit Bumrah, New Zealand wicketkeeper Tim Seifert says the Indian speedster's subtle variations have been difficult to pick in the ongoing T20 series and his side needs to a learn a thing or two about adapting from the visitors.

India beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the second T20 International in Auckland on Sunday to grab a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Bumrah returned with figures of 1-21 from his four overs as Indian skipper Virat Kohli changed his bowling plans from the first game.

"Even in the first game, Bumrah bowled slower balls that were going wider. Normally, death bowlers get into straighter lines, plus yorkers and mix it with chest height. He kind of changes things a lot and is tougher to play," Seifert said.

"...the ball was holding a lot more which made it tougher. So sometimes as a batsman you have to move away from the stumps and see if they bowl straight. I was backing myself to do something different instead of just standing there at the wicket," said the stumper, who remained unbeaten on 33 off 26 balls.

"It was tricky and the ball was holding a little bit. When Kane (Williamson) got out in the over against Yuzvendra Chahal, we knew it was the over to push because they had Bumrah coming back," he added.

He said New Zealand batsmen need to take a cue from their Indian counterparts on how to adapt to different conditions quickly.

"...Indian batsmen showed how to get under the ball and time it. They showed it a couple of times that and on the slower wickets you just have to keep it like that. Once you lose your shape, you are not in position," he said.

"Try to get them (bowlers) off line or off balance, try to get into that position to hit good balls. That's T20 cricket as well. Sometimes it's going 100 per cent but some times you have to take a breath and re-assess. Indian batters did that well."

Seifert believes New Zealand bowlers did reasonably well in the two games but they have been outplayed by the Indian batsmen.

"To be honest, in the first game they were 110-1 and they had wickets in hand. We didn't bowl too badly in that first game. In the second game, we only got 130 and it is tough to bowl at Eden Park (with that total)," he said.

"170 was the target in mind but once you get 130 on the board, that was going to be very hard at Eden Park against a team that is very strong and playing really well. But our spinners were outstanding. Good balls have gone to boundary.

He said coming into the T20 series on the back of a lost Test rubber in Australia also didn't help New Zealand's cause in the first two games.

"Boys are coming off a Test series (in Australia) and a lot of them haven't played T20 cricket for a while," he said.

"But for some like me, I have had the Super Smash for the last two months, so I have played a lot of T20 cricket. They have two games under their belt now so hopefully they will have a better understanding."

Asked if New Zealand would want to play on India's strength of chasing, Seifert replied, "Even in ODI cricket, India have chased down big totals but I think on that wicket it was going to get slower and slower.

"But with that small target on Eden Park, something special has to happen with top six (for a collapse). One batsman got fifty and the other was batting very well. We needed top five-six in the first 10 overs," he said.

The Black Caps are still confident of bouncing back in the series.

The third T20 will be played here on Wednesday before back-to-back matches in Wellington and Mt Maunganui. Seifert said they would like to replicate the 2019 tour of India, where New Zealand came out 2-1 victorious in the three-match series.

"We have lost the first two games but we haven't played badly. We definitely haven't played our best though while India has played very well. If we lose the series on Wednesday, it is not the end of the world. But if we can turn things around, and win, we will take things from there," he said.

"We won the series 2-1 last time, so we have to treat it like a three match series again. But we have to treat it like the first two are must-win games."

"We are not playing our best at the moment. There are 20-odd games before the World Cup, and that tournament is the pinnacle, so we will get there (in preparation),” he signed off.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Jan 6: Former India opener Kris Srikkanth on Sunday said he would prefer K L Rahul over Shikhar Dhawan in the T20 World Cup later this year.

Former India opener Kris Srikkanth on Sunday said he would prefer K L Rahul over Shikhar Dhawan in the T20 World Cup later this year.

Dhawan is returning to international cricket after a long gap. During the senior left-handed batsman's absence, Rahul has emerged as one of the top contenders for the opener's slot in limited-overs cricket.

"Runs against SL (Sri Lanka) don't count. If I was chairman of selectors, I won't pick Dhawan in the T20 WC squad. There is no competition between him and Rahul. Only one winner," Srikkanth said on Star Sports.

Before the series, the 34-year-old Dhawan said that he is looking forward to a "new start" in a new year and wants to win the World Cup for India.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 10: India's under-19 cricket team manager Anil Patel says the ICC has taken a serious view of the aggressive celebrations by Bangladesh players after their World Cup triumph and will be reviewing the footage of the final game's "last few minutes".

Some Bangladeshi players got carried away while celebrating their historic three-wicket win over India in the final on Sunday. While their captain Akbar Ali apologised for the "unfortunate incident", his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg said their reaction was "dirty".

"We don't know what actually happened," Patel told 'ESPNCricinfo' on Sunday.

"Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don't know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know," he said.

Even when the match was on, the Bangladesh players were overly aggressive while fielding and their lead pacer Shoriful Islam sledged the Indian batsmen after every delivery.

As soon as the match ended, it became tense with Bangladeshi players rushing to the ground and displaying aggressive body language. The two teams nearly came to blows before the situation was defused by the coaching staff and on-field officials.

Patel claimed that match referee Graeme Labrooy met him and expressed regret at what transpired on the field.

"The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session. They are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning (Monday)."

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