What has happened in the past has definitely made me wiser, claims Mithali Raj

What has happened in the past has definitely made me wiser, claims Mithali Raj

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Mithali Raj opened up about the incident involving former women’s team coach, Ramesh Powar, as she revealed that the entire fiasco helped her grow as a cricketer. Raj added that she felt betrayed by certain members of the Indian team after her attitude was questioned following the Powar fall-out.

It all seemed like the beginning of the end for the Indian veteran female cricketer, Mithali Raj, whose exclusion from the squad to face West Indies in the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup sparked a series of controversial events that led to Ramesh Powar being sacked as coach of the women’s team. In a long and gritty battle, that involved the BCCI and CoA, Raj’s character was questioned on multiple occasions as she was accused of using her stance as a senior member of the team to influence team decisions.

However, in a recent interview with Cricbuzz, the 36-year old cricketer spoke about how the whole incident involving Powar has helped her grow wiser as a cricketer in recent months.

"I believe what has happened has definitely made me more wiser to people around me in the dressing room. I wouldn't say that I watch my step now, but I do know how things are and how things can turn out to be. I have always maintained from the beginning that I am here to play. I am not here to pacify or make people happy. If I justify my place in the team, that's what I care for. As long as I am doing well, I don't see any other reason that I should be looking at other than my performance. If there [comes the] day I am not performing, I would be the first one to walk out of the team. Because I do understand that playing for so many years, if I wasn't true to myself or to the sport, probably I wouldn't have sustained for so many years," Raj was quoted as saying to Cricbuzz.

Mithali, who has a total of 6720 runs in 203 ODI’s for India, added that she felt a sense of betrayal when players from within the team questioned her character despite playing for the national team for almost 20-odd years.

"Well, for me, it has been a lonely journey right from the beginning. Because debuting for India at a very young age and you don't have teammates of your age. I had to grow up very quickly from being a 16-year-old. I had a very good period in between when I had teammates of my age. I enjoyed the dressing room the best at that point of time. Again, back to dressing room where I had a lot of youngsters in the side. So it is a very lonely journey.

"I wouldn't say I felt lonely but I definitely feel that I was betrayed. I will not mince my words, yes? Because when you try to think the bigger picture and when you try to play for the team. And when you hear terms like 'selfish' and all, it only makes those people very small. A lot of people have also written articles about my strike-rate, but had people been more wiser and more human to understand whatever the leaked emails were about, it was more about the behaviour meted to me as a cricketer, as a player. Performance on the field happens and doesn't happen. You may like me for my batting or you make not like me, that is a very personal thing for people and I don't push it. But as a player, whether senior or junior, everybody deserves respect. And I am not someone who would quietly take someone trampling over my self respect, whether I play for India or not - it doesn't matter to me. Because at the end of the day, I see myself as an individual and a self-made woman. That was the gist of my vent but people very much made it a very different thing," Raj added.

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