In his recent report to the BCCI, the Indian women’s cricket coach Ramesh Powar has alleged that Mithali Raj threatened to retire midway through the World T20 after being denied to open the innings. The report also accused that the senior player of throwing tantrums and creating chaos.
As per the reports of PTI, the report suggested that Powar’s version of the events had led to the breakdown of his equation with the seasoned campaigner. Powar’s report comes a day after Mithali accused that the former spinner was out to destroy her and humiliated her during the tournament in the West Indies.
Powar’s 10-page tour report is almost entirely focussed on Mithali, taking up nearly five pages in all. He met BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and GM (Cricket Operations) Saba Karim at the Board headquarters in Mumbai on Wednesday to submit it.
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While summarising Mithali’s performance, Powar said, “I hope Mithali stops blackmailing, pressurizing coaches and putting her interest first then the team. Before Pakistan match, video analyst Pushkar Sawant came to my room and said that fielding coach Biju George has conveyed to him that Mithali is upset with the batting order and packed her bags with the announcement of retirement in the morning. I was saddened by her attitude and it gave me an impression that Mithali Raj comes first and then India. She threw a lot of tantrums and created a lot of chaos.”
Mithali’s controversial exclusion from the semifinal against England, which India lost by eight wickets, gave rise to a storm and she has said that the axing left her in tears. Responding to her charge that Powar had asked her to not even show up at the ground for the league match against Australia, the coach said he merely asked her to rest at the hotel to recover from a niggle.
Describing the same, former Indian off-spinner said, “She couldn’t understand her role and adapt to the team plan and played for her personal milestones. Her irresponsible behavior took my time away as I was supposed to speak with few players regarding preparations of all important semifinal match, which could not happen. It’s not always about individual milestones, it’s always about team strategies and executions (team first).”
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Earlier in the day, PTI had quoted a BCCI source to report that Powar described Mithali as “Aloof & Difficult to Handle”. Powar issued an almost instant denial on Twitter.
I was shocked to read PTI story about my meeting with the BCCI officials. I totally deny the contents in the story.
— RAMESH POWAR (@imrameshpowar) November 28, 2018
On Tuesday, Raj had also alleged Committee of Administrators (CoA) member Diana Edulji of being biased towards her. The ODI skipper stated that Edulji used her position against her and made her feel vulnerable. However, the CoA member is yet to react to the allegations made by Raj. The 40-year-old Powar’s interim tenure will be coming to an end on Friday.
Even though he is eligible to re-apply for the post when fresh applications are invited, there is little chance that he will be retained as his player management skills have come under the scanner due to this incident.
