Mithali Raj Reckons BCCI Did 'The Best It Could' To Stage The Women's T20 Challenge

Mithali Raj, India women ODI captained, had thrown her weight behind the recent decisions by the BCCI with regards to staging the Women’s T20 Challenge at the time when the WBBL will be on in Australia.

Recently, the Sourav Ganguly-led Board of Control for Cricket in India [BCCI] announced that the Women’s T20 challenge will take place during the IPL playoff week between November 01-10.

While the decision was hugely welcomed by Indian cricketers like Jhulan Goswami, T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Raj herself, many overseas cricketers like Alyssa Healy, Suzie Bates, Rachael Haynes criticized the BCCI for staging the tournament in the said period.

Commenting on the same, Mithali Raj said that while understands the frustration of overseas players, she firmly beliee=ves that the board did its best to fit in four matches during these unprecedented times.

“People tend to judge quickly. The BCCI president (Sourav Ganguly), secretary (Jay Shah), and IPL GC chief (Brijesh Patel) have been very encouraging towards women’s cricket. I personally thought we may not even get to play the Challenger trophy (domestic event) because even the men’s IPL was in doubt but these games are most welcome,” Mithali Raj told PTI.

‘I am relieved to have some cricket starting’- Mithali Raj

Mithali Raj was also asked about the disappointment expressed by overseas women cricketers like Alyssa Healy, Suzie Bates, and Rachael Haynes. To which, the most successful ODI batswoman in the history of the game tried to put things into perspective.

“I know a lot of people (foreign players) have questioned the timing of it but these are not normal circumstances. Normally, the IPL happens in April-May and doesn’t collide with WBBL (in Australia). But these are unusual circumstances, the window (tentatively November first week) was a short one and the BCCI did the best it could,” she added.

Mithali, who last represented India last November, said that the announcement of the Challenger series in the UAE came in as a huge relief in these uncertain times, especially after the England tour was canceled. With the 2021 50-over World Cup coming up, Raj feels that the four games in UAE will help players get in some sort of a rhythm before the international assignments.

“More than the T20 Challenge games, I am relieved to have some cricket starting. That gives hope to other players to look forward to training and plan the season and not be in that uncertain mode. We have four series scheduled before World Cup but we are yet to get the dates. When the England tour got cancelled, players faced a lot of uncertainty and if there is nothing ahead you don”t what know you prepare for. So the news of staging the IPL games is much needed.” Mithali Raj added.

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