Indian women’s team player Mithali Raj described the recent coach fiasco and apparent fall-out within the team as the “most difficult phase” of her career off the field.
“I would like to sum it all up by saying that it was not a very good experience. Definitely, it was the most difficult phase of my career off the field. I don’t need to justify after all these years what I have done and what I am as a player,” Mithali told.
“I can’t change people’s perceptions. It is not in my control. But what is in my control is that as long as I am playing, as long as I take the field as a player or as captain, there will not be any less percentage of commitment.”
Speaking about newly appointed Coach WV Raman, Mithali said, “I am not here to judge him. I am here to get the team together and get them to perform as a unit. He has a lot of experience and if you look at his credentials, he has coached at every level and comes with a lot of expertise. It will only do good for the team.”
Finally, Mithali addressed popular opinion regarding her low scoring-rate in T20Is, and how she would have loved to play the Test format.
“When you have to put someone down, you will find ways to do it, even if that person has some good qualities it gets overshadowed by the dislike of that person. I don’t intend to justify anything about my scoring rate as there are people who score at a faster rate but are not that consistent. So it works both ways, but people don’t see it that way when they are negative about the player.
“If you see the percentage of matches that India won with me scoring runs it will be a testimony to my abilities. I play the way I think best suits the situation and the way the team requires me to bat.
