Mithali Raj : Controversies are secondary when you step onto the pitch
Mithali Raj played down the speculation regarding an internal rift in the Indian women’s team as she declared that she won’t let controversies get in the way of her match preparation ahead of the New Zealand tour. Raj added that she was looking forward to working under new coach WV Raman.
The whole Mithali Raj - Ramesh Powar controversy was in the headlines across various media outlets in the past one month or so. While there’s still a shred of doubt surrounding the entire issue, it brought to light an internal bias that was existent in the Indian women’s cricket team as highlighted by the BCCI officials who opted to end Powar’s contract and select a new coach for the women’s team.
Mithali, who retained her place in the T20 squad and captaincy for next month’s tour to New Zealand, said that it is time to get the focus back on cricket as controversies will not benefit the sport in any way whatsoever.
“When 15 individuals together with the support staff, the whole team becomes a huge family. And in a family there can be differences of opinion,” she said during a visit to the city to receive an award for her contribution to women’s cricket.
“But when we take the field as the National team, as ambassadors of the sport, these issues are secondary… not even secondary, these issues do not come in the list of priorities. As professional athletes or cricketers we know we have a job to do once on the field,” Raj said while receiving an award for her contribution to women’s cricket.
The veteran Indian cricketer also refrained from commenting on any differences with T20I captain - Harmanpreet Kaur. Raj revealed that she was looking forward to playing under new Indian team coach - WV Raman.
“Now that we have a tour ahead, it is time we look forward and move forward and try to be more optimistic and positive. The last few days have been very stressful for me and my parents because of the way it (the controversy) panned out. It got women’s cricket under the spotlight, something which was not needed. When you talk about non-cricketing issues related to the team, the focus goes away from the sport,” Raj concluded.
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