Mithali Raj was dropped for the semi-final clash against England in the Women's World T20
Mithali Raj responded to the report submitted by India women's team coach Ramesh Powar following Mithali Raj's sensational revelations via an e-mail to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) top-brass.
Powar responded to Mithali's allegations and launched a scathing attack on the India ODI and Test captain.
The former India off-spinner wrote a 10-page tour report and it was almost entirely focussed on Mithali, taking up nearly five pages in all.
"I hope Mithali stops blackmailing, pressurising coaches and putting her interest first than the team," Powar said while summarising Mithali's performance on the tour.
"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 batting order and packed her bags with announcement of retirement in the morning," Powar wrote in his report.
"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," the report stated stated.
Responding to Mithali's charge that he asked her to not even show up at the ground for the league match against Australia, Powar said he merely asked her to rest at the hotel to recover from a niggle.
"She couldn't understand her role and adapt to the team plan and played for her personal milestones," Powar said.
"Her irresponsible behaviour took my time away as I was supposed to speak with few players regarding preparations of all important semi-final match, which could not happen. It's not always about individual milestones, it's always about team strategies and executions (team first)," Powar said in relation to her not wanting to bat in the middle-order.
But, Powar's thoughts seem to have not gone down well with the 35-year-old and she let it know via Twitter.
"I'm deeply saddened & hurt by the aspersions cast on me. My commitment to the game & 20yrs of playing for my country.The hard work, sweat, in vain. Today, my patriotism doubted, my skill set questioned & all the mud slinging- it's the darkest day of my life. May god give strength," Mithali tweeted.
The whole fiasco started after India were defeated in the World T20 semi-final by England. Raj, despite scoring two half-centuries in the tournament was left out and India suffered a massive collapse in the batting-order and paid the price for it.
Raj's exclusion was severly criticised and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur came out and defended it by saying whatever decision was taken, was taken for the best interest of the team.
Committee of Administrators (CoA) member Daina Edulji also spoke about the issue and a few days later things went downhill after Mithali's mail to Johri and Karim got leaked and it had some sensational revelations regarding Edulji and Powar, which again wasn't received too well with the fans.
But, Powar's report provided some clarity and now it remains to be seen what the future is for the veteran Indian cricketer.
