World T20 row closed chapter: Mithali
MUMBAI:India Women’s ODI captain Mithali Raj said on Sunday that the controversy involving her and T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur is in the past and that the team’s focus is on earning crucial points for 2021 World Cup qualification with a successful New Zealand tour.
India travel to New Zealand on Monday for a three-match ODI series starting on January 24, to be followed by a three-match T20I series. “It is a fresh start. Coming into the New Year, this is the first series and, yes, we have moved on from that (controversy). The focus now is on the New Zealand series because as a captain and as a team, we understand the impor- tance of the point system and how it is important for us to gain those points and get an entry into the 2021 World Cup. We know where we stand right now in the table, so this series is very, very crucial in that perspective,” Mithali said.
The 36-year-old said she did not think of retiring during the controversy that rocked the India women’s team post the ICC World T20 in the West Indies late last year. Mithali, who had said during the tournament that it could be her last World T20, said retirement will be her call.
“I never thought of quitting, whatever has happened is off the field and I believe whenever I take that decision it probably will be because of my own reasoning and about my own game.”
Newly-appointed coach WV Raman highlighted the team’s strengths despite inexperience. “Any tour abroad is a challenge … there are two ways of looking at it (the series): almost the entire team has not been there, which means they can go with an open mind and have no fear and get on with it. The other side is that New Zealand will see a lot of unknown quantities — that can always be dangerous in cricket though they have the advantage of being the home team.”