You can’t drop someone like Mithali Raj : Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar has publicly extended his support for out of favor India women’s team member, Mithali Raj, as the former claimed that you cannot afford to drop someone like Raj from a knockout game. Mithali was overlooked in the semi-final loss to England in this year’s ICC Women’s World T20.
The buzz surrounding the exclusion of former women’s team captain, Mithali Raj, from the matchday squad for the semi-final against England has become a very public affair. With leaked emails, flaring tempers and contradictory opinions, it is getting harder for the unaware masses to believe what the crux of the matter really is.
However, former Indian Test cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, has come out and spoken in favor of the veteran women’s team player as he claimed that no player of Mithali’s invaluable experience and skill-set deserved to be left out of such a crucial knockout game.
“I feel sorry for Mithali. She has a very good point. She has served Indian cricket for 20 years. She 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,” Gavaskar told India Today.
The 35-year old was dropped from the team despite scoring back-to-back fifties in the group stage of the competition as India ultimately fell to an eight-wicket loss against the English side. Following the loss, Mithali had written a letter to the BCCI, where she accused coach Ramesh Powar and Committee of Administrators member Diana Edulji, of trying to “destroy” her. However, Gavaskar admitted that it was hard to comment on what happens in the dressing room but added that dropping her from the team was certainly not the right decision.
“What happened with Powar.....it is very difficult to comment on that from here. but 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,” Gavaskar added.
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