The legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar feels sorry for the senior Indian women’s cricketer Mithali Raj who was shockingly dropped out from the playing XI during the recent semi-final of 2018 ICC Women’s World T20 against England women.

Due to the massive batting collapse, India women lost against England women in the semi-final of 2018 WWT20. But most importantly, many Indian cricket experts were stunned on Mithali Raj’s exclusion from the playing XI during the semi-final. Raj was also dropped out from the playing XI in the last group stage game against Australia women. However, India already secured their semi-final spot before that Australia game but missing the semi-final was totally unexpected, especially when Raj was in-form as she has played two 50+ knocks in the last two games.

Also read: Sourav Ganguly reacts on Mithali Raj’s exclusion

Talking about Raj’s exclusion, the team management claimed that they didn’t want to break the winning combination – that managed a victory in their last group stage game of that tournament against the high-profile team Australia women. Meanwhile, the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said that they have no regret on their decision.

However, Gavaskar doesn’t appreciate this move as he feels sorry for Mithali to face this situation.

Gavaskar told India Today, “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).

“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.”

In the effect of this decision, Raj’s manager termed the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur as manipulative while Raj wrote a letter to BCCI where she accused the head coach Ramesh Powar and the Committee of Administrators (CoA) member Diana Edulji.

Also read: Ramesh Powar Reveals Mithali Raj Threatened To Retire

Talking about Powar’s role on this, Gavaskar added, “What happened with Powar.. is very difficult to comment on that from here. 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.”