Former India women’s cricketer Mithali Raj came down heavily on the team’s selection strategy and questioned the side’s growth. Her critical take comes after Harmanpreet Kaur and co crashed out of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the group stage of the tournament. The former Indian star claimed that every other team had grown over the past few years in terms of depth and questioned the team’s selection picks in marquee tournaments over the past year.
Mithali Raj questions India’s selection choices
Mithali Raj cited a few selection blunders from the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup to call out India’s selection strategies as failure. She blamed the team for not planning for big tournaments in advance. Raj accused the Indian side of fielding regulars instead of giving opportunity to those warming the bench and testing the depth of the squad.
“We could have given more opportunities to the bench against lower-ranked teams in Asia Cup, but we didn’t. Why does the men’s team do well? Immediately after a big series or a big tournament, they try others. If we are talking about depth, then when are we giving them chances?,” Mithali Raj told news agency PTI.
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Mithali Raj also targeted the fitness of the cricketers, claiming that a benchmark must be set. She said that fitness needed to be worked on round the year and not just in camp before any big tournament. Apart from these issues, Raj also stated that it was time for Harmanpreet Kaur to be replaced as the Indian skipper and handover the reins to someone younger like Jemimah Rodrigues.