Mithali Raj Opens Up On Bizarre Run-Out In World Cup Final
The stage was set for Mithali Raj to cap off her illustrious career with the World Cup glory. On a good batting pitch, the Indian bowlers did extremely well to restrict England to 228 for 7 in the allotted 50 overs. In reply, India had a terrible start with Smriti Mandhana departing for a duck but Mithali Raj’s presence was a morale-booster for the Women in Blue.
The inspirational skipper had entered the final after scoring 3 half-centuries and a century in the tournament and began in the same manner, hitting three brilliantly timed fours to race to 17. However, all of a sudden, the 33-year old was caught short of her crease while attempting a single and England wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor made no mistake in dislodging the bails. The incident had happened in the 13th over of the innings when Punam Raut tucked a Laura Marsh delivery towards the leg side and called for a single. Mithali responded straightaway but surprisingly did not make any effort to complete the quick single.
In case you have missed they run-out, here is a clip of the same:
https://twitter.com/PRINCE3758458/status/889764283365507072
As expected, questions have been raised on Mithali’s commitment and the Indian batting stalwart has finally opened up on the incident. Mithali said that her spike was stuck mid-way through the run which made her helpless and resulted in her run-out.
“I saw some weird stuff written about my run-out on social media. Actually, what happened was my spike got stuck in the pitch. Punam called me for a run and I responded. Before I reached half way, this thing (spike getting stuck) happened and I don’t think the TV cameras captured it. I couldn’t push myself hard and couldn’t even make an effort to dive. I was helpless. I was gutted,” she told The Times of India.
India, nevertheless, had recovered from Mithali’s early departure but a late collapse saw them losing the thrilling final by 9 runs.
