It turned out a be a ‘Black Friday’ for all those cricket fans who woke up early in the morning to watch the Indian eves locking horns with England in the semi-finals of the Women’s World T20 in Antigua. Firstly, dropping the most experience Mithali Raj was no less than a cruel shocker and then India’s defeat against England spoiled the moods right at the beginning of the day.
Team’s decision of dropping Mithali raised ample questions but skipper Harmanpreet justified the decision by stating that she had no regrets.
Not only for the viewers but it was also painful for the ace Indian women speedster Jhulan Goswami to see one of the world’s best batswomen warming the benches on a semi-final of a World Cup. She was surprised to see Mithali Raj excluded from the playing XI.
"The decision was taken by the team management. I am sure they have their reasons, but as an Indian cricket fan I felt bad to see Mithali sitting in the dugout,” the 36-year-old said.
“We won the toss and decided to bat but could not make it count. Despite the good start (43 in 6 overs) by Smriti [Mandhana] and Taniya [Bhatia], we crumbled from 89/2 to be bowled out for 112. The girls batted well in the warm-up matches as well as group league stage of the WT20 meet, but our batting display against England was shoddy,” she added.
Benching Mithali against England in a crucial face-off backfired for India as they playing XI went through a terrible batting collapse. They were 89 for 2 at one stage but got bundled up for 112. In reply, England chased down a minimal target with 17 balls to spare to enter the finale.