Coach Ramesh Powar Accused Of Humiliating Treatment Of Mithali Raj

The controversy surrounding Indian team-management’s decision to drop Mithali Raj from the playing XI for the semifinal clash against England in the ICC world T20 refuses to die down. In the latest turn of events, coach Ramesh Powar has been accused of unacceptable behaviour with the former India skipper.

India’s campaign in the showpiece event in the Caribbeans ended on a disappointing note. India entered the semifinal on the back of an impressive showing in the group stage.

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Harmanpreet Kaur & Co. had won all four of their group games and brushed teams like New Zealand and Australia aside with surprising ease. Their batters managed to post big scores and the spinners played their part admirably too. However, nothing worked for the Women in Blue as England dismantled them to storm into the final of the competition.

But the loss was not the biggest talking point after the game. In fact, it was the decision of the team-management to drop Mithali Raj that hogged all the limelight. The former skipper had sat out India’s last group match against Australia to nurse a knee injury. Prior to that, she had scored fifties in both the games she had batted in. However, the team-management surprisingly decided to drop her for the crucial clash.

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And the team fared poorly in her absence, suffering an inexplicable batting collapse.  At one stage, India were 89 for 2. However, they lost their eight wickets for just 23 runs to fold up for just 112. Well, the team surely missed the experience of Mithali Raj.

Ever since the loss, the decision to drop Mithali from the playing eleven has attracted widespread criticism. On Monday, the BCCI officials met Harmanpreet and Mithali to discuss the issue. And amidst all this, head coach Ramesh Powar has found himself in hot waters.

Eminent cricket journalist Boria Majumdar has revealed that Ramesh Powar told Mithali not to go to the stadium for the team’s final group game against Australia. Not only that, Ramesh Powar also stopped Mithali from being a part of the team huddles in addition to asking her how did the benching feel.

Majumdar revealed the starting details on his Twitter account.

This is shocking. Ramesh Powar tells @M_Raj03 she cant go to the stadium for the Aus game. Says she cant be part of the team huddle. Says how does it feel to be benched!! Is this man for real?????! @BCCI are you listening? Vinod Rai are you seeing this? Take action or leave.

— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) November 27, 2018

Meanwhile, in an informal letter to BCCI, Mithali has revealed how Powar humiliated her.

“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.

“It was embarrassing and very evident to everyone that I was being humiliated. Yet I never lost my cool,” she wrote.

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