Indian women’s cricket team ODI captain, Mithali Raj, has accused the Indian team’s coach, Ramesh Powar of humiliating and discriminating against her during the Women’s T20 World Cup.
The Indian women’s cricket team batswoman, Mithali Raj, wrote an email divulging the details of harassment at the hands of Indian cricket team coach, Ramesh Powar and the Committee of Administrators (CoA) member, Diana Edulji. In her email to the BCCI, she revealed that her elimination from the WC semifinals against England was unfair. She claimed that Powar and Edulji were biased against her and tried to “destroy” her.
The email stated that Raj felt depressed and let down. She said “people in power” were out to break her confidence. She claimed that Powar started discriminating against her in West Indies. The coach chose to ignore her during practice sessions and would walk away when she tried talking to him. Raj said it was evident to everyone that Powar was trying to humiliate her. The ODI captain also disclosed that she was asked by the Indian coach to not come to the field during the match against Australia.
The cricketer went on to say that she has always respected CoA member Diana Edulji and was shocked when she used her position against Raj. In her note to the BCCI CEO, Rahul Johri and GM of Cricket Operations, Saba Karim, the cricketer said she felt “vulnerable” when Edulji backed the decision of benching the cricketer in the semi-finals.