CWG 2022 LIVE: Mithali or Jhulan could've been mentors like Dhoni says Krishnamurthy

CWG 2022 LIVE: India’s women’s cricket team are all set to make their debut at the Commonwealth Games this year and Harmanpreet Kaur and Co will aim for gold in Birmingham over the next few weeks. With the tournament being played in a t20 format, veterans Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami were out of contention, both having given up on the shortest format of the game. However, the duo are flagbearers of women’s cricket in India and Veda Krishnamurthy believes their experience could have come in handy in multi-nation tournaments. Follow India at CWG 2022 LIVE Updates on Insidesport.IN

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CWG 2022 LIVE: ‘Maybe Mithali or Jhulan could have been mentors like MS Dhoni was’ – Veda Krishnamurthy rues absence of legends ahead – Check out

While both Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami have long given up the idea of T20 cricket, Veda Krishnamurthy believes that the duo could have been handy additions to India’s backroom staff to keep the spirits high. India have struggled in crunch situations in major events and the presence of experienced internationals could have helped calm some nerves in the dressing room.

While Krishnamurthy admits that the veterans are now past the T20 format, she believes either could have been handed a mentor role like MS Dhoni had during the Men’s T20 World Cup last year. In a media interaction hosted by Sony Sports Network, the 29-year-old heaped praise on the stalwarts of Indian women’s cricket.

A warm send off for #TeamIndia as they left for Birmingham this morning from Bengaluru. 👋👋💪 #Birmingham2022 pic.twitter.com/Z6tcR3jcDf

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) July 24, 2022

CWG 2022 LIVE: ‘Maybe Mithali or Jhulan could have been mentors like MS Dhoni was’ – Veda Krishnamurthy rues absence of legends ahead – Check out

She said, “From a fan’s perspective yes, they would obviously miss them (Jhulan and Mithali). But their wants and needs keep changing every day. Both Mithali and Jhulan have not played a lot of T20 cricket in years together and it would not be something that the team would miss having now played without them for years.”

Veda however, “Maybe, how MS Dhoni was with the men’s team as a mentor, maybe they could have had one of them as a mentor in the dressing room just to keep everything. There will be a lot of pressure as it is not just games for your clubs, it is for your country with a lot of sports happening around. There will be a lot of noise around and athletes will cross paths and a mentor could help in keeping everything intact.”

MS Dhoni was roped in as a mentor for the Indian men’s team last year when Virat Kohli and Co participated in the T20 World Cup in the UAE. The Men in Blue had a disappointing outing, crashing out in the group stages which eventually saw Kohli sacked as captain.