Women's World T20 selection row: Mithali Raj says coach Ramesh Powar humiliated her

Bengaluru: The controversy over Mithali Raj's exclusion from the Indian team for the Women's World Twenty20 semi-final refuses to die down.

Now, Mithali, in a letter to the BCCI, has spoken out against Committee of Administrators' (COA) member Diana Edulji and also said that coach Ramesh Powar had humiliated her, according to media reports on Tuesday.

Also read: Harmanpreet, Mithali meet BCCI officials separately over selection row

"May I say that I am aware that by writing this email I am making myself even more vulnerable. She (Diana Edulji) is a COA member while I am just a player. For the record, I scored back-to-back fifties in the games before the semifinal, was adjudged player of the match on both occasions, to leave me out in the semifinal and go with only three performing batters was a decision that left me baffled as much as it left the whole world," Mithali wrote in the letter to the Indian cricket board, according to India Today.

's letter to BCCI has left everyone in shock! Absolutely angry and upset with the treatment Mithali Raj was given by the coach What are your thoughts on this? pic.twitter.com/DxS5Fbh25F

— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket)

"... I would also like to point out that I have nothing against the T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur except for the fact that her call to support the decision of the coach to leave me out of the eleven was baffling and hurtful. I wanted to win the World Cup for my country and it hurts me because we lost a golden opportunity," she added.

Also read: India's World T20 journey ends with 8-wicket loss to England in semis

After scoring two consecutive half-centuries, Mithali was rested for the inconsequential group match against Australia, which India won. They decided to retain the same eleven for the semifinal against England.

The Harmanpreet-led side was defeated by eight wickets, knocking them out of the World T20 in the Caribbean islands.

Mithali said she was "deeply distressed" by Edulji's comments. “To put things in perspective, I have always reposed faith in Diana Edulji and have always respected her and her position as a member of the COA, Never did I think she will use her position against me, more after hearing what all I had to go through in the Caribbean as I had spoken to her about it," she said.

“Her brazen support in the press with regard to the decision of my benching in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup has left me deeply distressed, more because she knows the real facts having spoken to me,” she added.

Also read: Diana Edulji denies reports of COA meeting Harmanpreet, Mithali to broker peace

After the loss, controversy erupted over the 35-year-old Mithali's omission, which was justified by skipper Harmanpreet.

"Whatever we decided, we decided for the team. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, no regrets," Harmanpreet said.

COA member Edulji too defended the team management. “I think too much is being made out of it. The management (captain Harmanpreet, coach Powar, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and selector Sudha Shah) made the decision of not changing a winning combination and that backfired. If India had won the game, I am sure nobody would have questioned their decision,” Edulji, a former India captain, said.

On Monday, Harmanpreet, Mithali and team manager Trupti Bhattacharya met BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and GM (cricket operations) Saba Karim separately and presented their viewpoints on the issue.

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