Harmanpreet Kaur Highly Respects Mithali Raj's Contribution To Women's Cricket

Indian women’s team captain Harmanpreet Kaur has hailed veteran cricketer Mithali Raj and shed light on the controversy surrounding Mithali Raj’s axing from the team in between 2018 World T20. Mithali Raj is not only one of the most experienced women cricketers but also amongst the highest run-getters in women’s T20 internationals. In a session with Harsha Bhogle in Cricbuzz, Harmanpreet Kaur has opened up on all of it.

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While fielding in the group game against Ireland, Mithali Raj injured her knee that forced her to walk away from the field. In the same match, she also scored a battling half-century that helped beat Ireland. While Raj missed the clash against Australia, the veteran was fit to be part of the semi-finals. However, captain Harmanpreet Kaur ignored her and fielded an unchanged eleven against England, which India lost.

Reportedly, all was not well between Mithali and Harmanpreet. Mithali blasted coach Romesh Powar and Diana Edulji for biased selections over social media while her manager’s post about slamming Harmanpreet also went viral. Nevertheless, since the fallout, India’s present skipper ensured that all was well between them.

Harmanpreet Kaur addressed Mithali Raj as Mithali di, lauding her contribution to women’s cricket over the last 20 years. The 31-year old refused to compare herself with women’s highest run-getter in ODIs and that she would not be able to do what she did when Mithali began playing internationals. She went on to say that whatever took place between them; they never let it ruin the team bonding by any means. As far as the controversy goes, Harmanpreet claimed that it was as a result of some people’s actions, whose names she refused to spell out.

“There were such people, it’s not the right platform to take the names. Because they are the biggies, some very big cricketers. When a team reaches certain stature, such things happen. Mithali Di is a lot senior to me. I haven’t played half the amount of cricket she has played. She has been playing cricket for 20 years, there’s no comparison between her and me,” Kaur stated.

“I do not want to compare myself to her as I know that what she has given to women’s cricket, I would not have been able to contribute that even if I started playing cricket when she did. She has been contributing from a time when there was nothing for India’s women’s cricket. I started performing when I had a ready platform. Both of us never let any incident affect the team’s bonding.” 

A lot of things happen, but you have to ignore them: Harmanpreet Kaur

Kaur addressed Mithali’s manager’s post spreading like wildfire on social media by conceding that it did not bother her at all. The Punjab-born cricketer claimed that she is an easy-going person, who is not so active on social media hence she is not aware of what’s making the rounds. The post by Mithali Raj’s manager was also shown to her by the teammates.

“I am a very easy going person. A lot of things happen, but you have to ignore them. For example, while I had permission from my parents to go out and play while growing up, others objected to me playing with boys. My father told me from Day 1 to not focus on anything which I did not like. I am not active on social media so I don’t read much into what’s going around. As you pointed out that the manager’s post, I wasn’t even aware of it, it was shown to me by my team-mates. I told them to ignore it as when it did not bother me, it should not have bothered them,” she added.

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