You Cannot Drop Someone Like Mithali Raj - Sunil Gavaskar

Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has extended his support to Mithali Raj saying that a player of her calibre should not deserve this kind of treatment. The management surprisingly decided to exclude Raj from the playing XI for the semifinal tie despite her being in good form.

However, it turned sour when skipper Harmanpreet Kaur backed the decision despite India eight-wicket snubbing. Sunil Gavaskar, meanwhile, said he did not agree with the team management reason to drop Mithali from the team for a knockout game. He even cited examples of Virat Kohli to justify his statement in favour of the dashing batter.

“I feel sorry for Mithali. She has a very good point. She has served Indian cricket for 20 years. Mithali scored runs. She won player of the match in both matches (she played at the World T20),” Gavaskar told India Today.

“She was injured for one game but fit for the next game. Just convert this situation into the men’s game. If you had a Virat Kohli who was injured for one game and then is fit for the knockout, will you leave him out? You have to pick your best player for the knockouts.. You needed the experience and expertise of Mithali Raj,” he added.

However, Sunil Gavaskar refrained from commenting on Ramesh Powar’s role admitting that it is difficult to say from this distance.

“What happened with Powar is very difficult to comment on that from here. It’s difficult to accept whatever the reason was. They said they wanted to stick with the same team, I don’t think that’s a good enough excuse. You can’t drop someone like Mithali Raj,” he concluded.