The Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has defended the decision to leave out their all-time leading run-scorer in T20Is, Mithali Raj, during the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 semi-final against England Women in Antigua as she lauded the team’s unbeaten run to the knockouts.

Team India was defeated by a margin of eight wickets and crashed out of the tournament following five unbeaten matches in a row before today, with the decision to drop Mithali, who scored 56 and 51 in India’s wins over Pakistan Women and Ireland Women in her only two innings of the Women’s World T20, raising eyebrows.

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Citing the example of the last league match against Australia, during the toss, Harman said, it’s not about not selecting Mithali, it’s about keeping a winning combination. As it turned out, India was bowled out for 112 in 19.3 overs to exit the World T20 with an eight-wicket loss to England. Taniya Bhatia (11), Smriti Mandhana (34), Jemimah Rodrigues (26) and Harmanpreet (16) were the only players to get into double-figures as India surrendered their last eight wickets for 23 runs in a stunning collapse.

After the loss, Harmanpreet clarified her perception of dropping Mithali and even commended her players for getting to the semi-finals unbeaten. She said, “Whatever we decided, it was for the team. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. One game doesn’t decide whether we are a good team or a bad team. I’m really proud of all the girls.”

She further added, “They [England] read the wicket really well and bowled accordingly. We have learned a lot over the course of the tournament. It was not an easy total to chase. We still have to work on our mental strength – learning to play under pressure will be a key thing to learn for us.”