Edulji: Playing eleven cannot be questioned, Indian women had a bad day

India’s campaign in the ICC tournament ended with a humiliating loss in the last-four stage.

Mithali Raj laid the foundations for victory with a 67-run stand for the opening wicket with Smriti Mandhana.

CoA member Diana Edulji on Monday said the team management’s controversial call to drop Mithali Raj for the ICC Women’s World T20 semifinal against England in Antigua cannot be questioned. 

“I think too much is being made out of it. The management (captain Harmanpreet Kaur, coach Ramesh Powar, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and selector Sudha Shah) made the decision of not changing a winning combination and that backfired," Edulji said.

READ| Mithali should have played semifinal given her experience, big-match nous

"If India had won the game, I am sure nobody would have questioned their decision. We can’t be questioning the team eleven. Another example is of Krunal Pandya, who was thrashed in the first T20 but bounced back strongly yesterday (Sunday). These things happen in the game,” she added.

Gupta comments uncalled for

Mithali, the ODI captain, had two back-to-back fifties against Pakistan and Ireland but was rested for the final league game against Australia due to a knee issue.

Harmanpreet Kaur had earlier said that she had “no regrets” over Mithali's omission as the decision was taken keeping team’s interests in mind.

READ| Sourav Ganguly on Mithali’s omission: ‘It happens in life’

Kaur, however, drew flak from Mithali's agent, Anisha Gupta, who in a tweet that was later deleted, had called the Indian skipper “cheat, liar and undeserving”.

Read |  Former players stumped by Mithali's omission

Edulji said Gupta’s comments were uncalled for.

“As I see it, it was just a bad day for India. The batting failed and when England were chasing, the dew made it tougher for the bowlers. The performance was unexpected, especially after the big win against Australia.

“I wish they had a bad game like that earlier in the competition and not in the all-important semifinal. The girls now have a New Zealand tour coming up, they must move on from this loss and work harder on their game,” she said.

Edulji also clarified that the CoA had not planned a meeting with Harmanpreet and Mithali yet.

“It was a selection matter. There is no need for the CoA to intervene. If they want to have a word with us, then that can be looked at. We only step in when it is required — like it was when Tushar Arothe stepped down,” she pointed out.