Ramesh Powar reason behind my exclusion: Mithali Raj

Former Indian captain and backbone of Indian women's cricketer Mithali Raj slammed coach Ramesh powar by saying he biased against her and have wanted to destroy her.

Mithali raj.

Mithali Raj, who was controversially excluded from the playing XI in the Women’s World T20 semi-final, has written a 2000-word letter to BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and GM Saba Karim.

"My issues with the coach started immediately as we landed in the West Indies. At first, there were small signs that his behavior towards me was unfair and discriminatory but I did not bother much about it," stated Mithali in the letter revealed by India Today. She alleged that despite adhering to some of the decisions taken by Powar in the interest of the team - like batting out of her usual opening position and delivering with back-to-back fifties when asked to return to her preferred slot - the coach's indifference to her caused her a lot of stress.

After scores of 0 and 18 that Mithali managed in the World T20 warm-up matches against the Windies and England, Mithali was moved down the order in the game against New Zealand where she didn't get to bat at all. However, she was restored to the opening position in the games against Pakistan and Ireland in which she scored successive half-centuries and was also given the Player of the Match award for both games. That she was able to open again was only due to the intervention of the selectors before the match against Pakistan stated the letter.

"Not having played middle order in recent times and without practice still, I agreed for the greater cause of the team. For me, the team comes ahead of anything. After the game, it was evident that the opening did not work as the team was 3/38 after power-play and yet in the team meeting the next day he informed me that we are going with the same opening pair as against New Zealand. And he also praised the openers despite them not succeeding.

"This left me completely shocked as against Pakistan there was no requirement of strengthening the middle order and also I have a great record against them. This was a match we had to win. I immediately reached out to the selectors and upon their intervention, he told me just before the game at breakfast that I was opening. I performed well in the game and we cruised to victory. But instead of saying any words of encouragement it appeared he was out there to prove a point and from there on his behavior changed dramatically towards me and really caused a lot of stress in the middle of one of the most important tournaments for us."

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