From feud with coach to slamming CoA member: When Mithali Raj controversy rocked Indian women's cricket

Mithali Raj was dropped by the Indin team management for the T20 World Cup 2018 semi-final against England following which the veteran batter accused then Indian women's team head coach Ramesh Powar of 'humiliating her'.

“For the first time in a 20 year long career, I felt deflated, depressed and let down. I am forced to think if my services to my country are of any value to a few people in power who are out to destroy me and break my confidence," she wrote in a letter to BCCI slamming Powar, which got leaked.

After India went on to lose the semi-final against England where Mithali was dropped, the veteran batter's manager lashed out at then captain Harmanpreet Kaur. Mithali's manager, Annisha Gupta took to Twitter to call Harmanpreet a 'manipulative, lying, immature and undeserving captain'. She also claimed the Indian women's team believed in politics and not sports.
 

Mithali Raj also accused former India cricketer Diana Edulji of bias after being dropped from the playing XI for the semi-final against England. Edulji was then part of the  BCCI Committee of Administrators (CoA) which was in charge of the Indian cricket board. In the letter written to the BCCI, Mithali said -  “a few people in power are out to destroy me”.

After Mithali's accusations, in a report submitted to the BCCI, Powar alleged Mithali put her interest ahead of the team's. However, he was soon sacked as the head coach of the Indian women's cricket team following his bitter fallout with Mithali.

In a huge twist, star Indian batter Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur, who was India's captain at T20 World Cup 2018, wrote a letter to the CoA and BCCI urging them not to sack Powar as the head coach of the team despite his huge fall out with Mithali. "Yes, they have written a letter stating that they want Ramesh Powar to continue," CoA member Vinod Rai had confirmed back then.

Ramesh Powar was re-appointed as the head coach of the Indian women's cricket team in 2021 with less than a year left for the Women's ODI World Cup Down Under in 2022. Mithali said the past is gone and that she is ready to steer the ship with Powar after his return.

“The past is gone by. You cannot go back. I am sure he (Ramesh Powar) will come up with plans and we together will steer the ship. We will work in tandem and build a very strong team for the future, especially with the World Cup scheduled next year,” said Mithali.