India women’s cricket legend Mithali Raj has recently bid farewell to all forms of international cricket, drawing curtains to her 23-year-long illustrious career. The 39-year-old, who has represented India in over 200 ODIs, announced her decision on Twitter just hours before the Indian squad for the tour of Sri Lanka was announced by BCCI.
Mithali – the leading run-scorer among women in international cricket – accomplished several highs during her scintillating career. However, there was a phase in 2018 where she was involved in a controversy with current head coach Ramesh Powar.
The incident erupted after Mithali was not included in India’s playing XI against England at the 2018 T20 World Cup semifinals. India had lost the match, after which both Mithali and Powar indulged in a war of words.
Now, days after her retirement, the former India skipper has opened up about the whole episode, stating she was hurt by all the happenings but kept quiet and got along with Powar. Mithali said she was always goal-oriented and had a purpose of playing cricket at the best level.
“When you find yourself in the middle of chaos, you can’t really think straight because you feel all sorts of emotions, even if you want to internalise and think from your brain and not from your heart. It would still be like you are hurting, so you will probably never have clarity if you are in chaos,” Mithali Raj told India Today.
“Take some time and get out of it and then see it as a third person to understand how better you can respond to it, or is it necessary? Sometimes it is okay to be quiet. It also requires a lot of courage when you are treated unfairly… everybody knows only one side of the story, and when you feel that way, it is fine because, at the end of the day, I am someone who is goal-oriented. I had a purpose – to play cricket at the best optimum level that I could. If I had to achieve that each time when I was to get on to the field and I wanted to give my best, it is not just about my skill, but it was also about my mental state of mind,” she added.
