India’s T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur, in an interview to Mumbai Mirror, said she had spoken to Mithali Raj after the latter’s omission from the Women’s World T20 semi-final against England created a big controversy after the team’s return from West Indies.
Upon returning to India, Mithali had alleged that the then coach Ramesh Powar humiliated her during the tournament. Following this, Powar wasn’t given an extension as the team’s coach.
Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana, however, wrote to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, seeking Powar’s extension.
“I don’t think there has been any problem between me and Mithali. I can speak for myself. You have to speak to her and ask if she has a problem with me,” Harmanpreet was quoted as saying by Mumbai Mirror.
The team, she said, was more important than individuals. “Team is like a family where there are troubles and issues that keep cropping up. But these things can’t be taken personally.
“I have met [Mithali] and spoken to her after all these events and we seemed to have moved on,” she added.
Harmanpreet said the issue was blown out of proportion. “I still feel that the situation should not have come to this but sometimes such things happen. I don’t think the issues should have been highlighted so much.”
Mithali, too, has played downplayed her differences with Harmanpreet. “When the 15 individual players come together with the support staff, it’s a huge and big family,” she told PTI.
“And usually in a family there will always be a difference of opinion. Everybody will not have the same kind of perspective. There will be issues and it does happen.”
‘It’s important to have a league in India’
Harmanpreet also stressed on the need for a women’s T20 league in India on the lines of the Women’s Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia, wherein she plays for the Sydney Thunder.
She explained that India’s improvement in T20 is due to the increase in number of matches. Leagues, like BBL, she said, help players improve their game at the international level. So, the sooner India starts a league of their own, the better.
“You have to create the depth (in talent). This can’t be used as an excuse to not have a women’s T20 league in India. Even if we don’t have (it now), one day we will have to make a start somewhere. You can’t be waiting for a day when other nations have reached a level where it becomes impossible to catch them,” she added.