Former Australian women’s cricketer Lisa Sthalekar has lambasted the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for ignoring Indian Women star Veda Krishnamurthy in the recently announced Test, ODI and T20I squad for the much-awaited England tour.
On Friday, the Indian cricket board released the squad details of the India Women cricket team concerning their upcoming international project in the English summer, starting June 16. The Indian team will play one Test, three ODIs and as many T20Is.
Speaking about Veda’s absence from the outfit, Sthalekar said that the BCCI did not check on Veda after the twin calamities in her family. A few days ago, the talented middle-order batter lost her elder sister Vatsala Shivakumar to COVID-19, two weeks after her mother passed away from the deadly virus.
The ICC Hall of Famer said the associations should think about players rather than solely paying attention to the game.
“Whilst not selecting Veda for the upcoming series may be justified from their point of view, what angers me the most is that as a contracted player, she has not received any communication from BCCI, just even to check how she is coping. A true association should deeply care about the players that play the game… not focus solely on just the game at any cost. So disappointed,” Sthalekar wrote on her Twitter handle.
The Aussie reckoned the time has come in Indian women cricket to form a players’ association.
“As a past player, the ACA (Australian Cricketers” Association) have reached out daily to see how we are and provided all kinds of services. If there was a need for a player association in (India) surely it is now,” she added.
“The stress, anxiety, fear and grief that many players have experienced through this pandemic will take its toll on them as individuals and inadvertently affect the game,” concluded Sthalekar.
There is still time to fix this!! pic.twitter.com/LT3hApMioJ
— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) May 15, 2021
