Mithali Raj was "remote, difficult to manage," says Ramesh Powar at BCCI | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: Indian women's cricket coach Ramesh Powar admitted Wednesday that she has a "tense" relationship with senior player Mithali Raj, but insisted that his controversial fall to the World Cup semifinal T20 was solely based on a cricket logic, said an official of the board of directors. .

ALSO READ: Mithali takes on coach Powar and Edulji, a member of the CoA.

Powar met with BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and General Manager (Cricket Operations) Saba Karim a day after his accusation of bias. He met with the two heads of the board of directors at BCCI headquarters in Mumbai.

ALSO READ: "A senior official also intervened in the selection of men"

The oldest thresher of the Indian team, in a scathing email addressed to Johri and Karim, affirmed that Powar had humiliated her during the T20 World Antilles and she was left in tears after the ax of the team.

"Ramesh admitted that his professional relationship with Mithali was tense, as he found it still remote and difficult to manage," a BCCI source told PTI on condition of anonymity.

However, the official said Powar had insisted that Mithali's reversal of the semifinal, which India had lost to England's eight wickets, was based on a strategy. and not on acrimony.

"He claimed that it was because of a low strike rate that she had been eliminated against England and that the team leadership wanted to maintain a winning combination, "said the manager.

It is learned that the former spinner, who had succeeded as acting coach a few months ago, had acknowledged being "indifferent to the older player".

Powar was asked why Mithali's strike rate was not an obstacle to his selection for the games against Ireland and Pakistan, but he had no answer to give. Mithali scored half a century in both games and was named player of the match.

Another aspect of the discussion was the question of whether there was an "external pressure" to overthrow Mithali of any influential leader.

The source stated that Powar had denied receiving calls from anyone, but had claimed to be aware of the fact that a "powerful individual of the BCCI" was in contact with the team leader (Trupti Bhattacharya) and the circuit selector (Sudha Shah).

On Tuesday, Mithali also accused Diana Edulji, a member of the Committee of Administrators (CoA), of bias. The captain of the ODI said that Edulji had used his position against her and made her vulnerable.

Edulji has not yet reacted to Mithali's allegations. Powar's 40-year interim term ends Friday.

Even though he will be free to apply for the position when new nominations are invited, there is little chance that he will be retained, as his player management skills have been pbaded under scanner because of this incident.