Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur
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Indian veteran batswoman Mithali Raj’s manager Annisha Gupta lashed out at Harmanpreet Kaur for leaving out Raj out of the semifinal contest against England. India went on to lose the match by eight wickets and the decision to drop Raj didn’t go well with the cricket fraternity. Everybody was left flabbergasted as Mithali Raj is India’s leading T20I run-getter. Thus, she has all the experience under her belt.

Furthermore, the talisman right-hander had scored a fine fifty against arch-rivals Pakistan in the second match. Moreover, she had a good half-century against Ireland. She had received Man of the Match awards for both these performances. However, she was dropped in the final group match against Australia, which was understandable as India had already qualified for the last four.

India vs Ireland | ICC Women's World T20 |

Why on earth will you drop Mithali Raj.

However, dropping Mithali Raj from the imperative semifinal clash didn’t make any sense. On the other hand, Harmanpreet Kaur said the team management wanted to continue with the winning combination.

“Whatever we decided, we decided for the team. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, no regrets. I’m proud of the way my girls played through the tournament,” Harmanpreet Kaur said in the post-match presentation.

As expected, Harmanpreet and team management decision has not gone down well with anyone. Raj is not a big striker of the ball, however, she could have held one end up and even her run-a-ball knock would have been handy. Sadly, it was not the case as India could only manage 112.

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Harmanpreet Kaur, ICC Women World Cup, India
BCCI

“Unfortunately @BCCIWomen believes in politics not sport. After witnessing what @M_Raj03 ‘s experience could do in IndvIre it’s shocking that they went with what pleases @ImHarmanpreet -a manipulative, lying, immature, undeserving captain,” Annisha tweeted.

Interestingly, Annisha Gupta twitter handle has now been deleted. Gupta also gave her statement to ESPNCricinfo regarding the politics in the side.

“I’d like to say that I don’t know what is going on on the inside but, now that the matches are being telecast, we can see who is performing and who is not,” Annisha said.

It was a bold decision from Harmanpreet Kaur and the think tank to overlook India’s best batswoman. As they have lost and Mithali was in good form, their decision will draw fire.

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