Diana used position against me, coach Powar humiliated me: Mithali raj’s Explosive letter to BCCI
New Delhi, Nov 27: Senior Indian woman cricketer Mithali Raj Tuesday slammed Committee of Administrators member Diana Edulji and coach Ramesh Powar, saying the two are biased against her and have tried to "destroy" her.
In a scathing e-mail to the BCCI, which is in possession of PTI, Mithali said her axing from the World T20 semi final against England reduced her to tears and left her the most deflated in her over two-decade long career.
In the note to BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and GM (Cricket Operations) Saba Karim, one of India's finest batswomen alleged that she was disrespected by the duo of Edulji and Powar.
"...I felt deflated, depressed and let down. I am forced to think if my services to my country are of any value to a few people in power who are out to destroy me and break my confidence," Mithali, also the ODI captain, wrote in her mail.
While Powar refused to comment on Mithali's allegations, Edulji could not be reached for a response.
Mithali spoke about how Edulji's stance backing her axing, made her feel "vulnerable". Edulji, in an interview to PTI, had stated that the team management's decision could not be questioned on selection matters.
"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," Mithali wrote.
A source alleged that Mithali was forced by Edulji to divulge the details of her meeting with Johri and Karim on Monday.
"Her brazen support in the press with regard to the decision of my benching in the semi final of the T20 World Cup has left me deeply distressed, more because she knows the real facts having spoken to me," the player wrote.
Mithali has played 85 T20Is for India and has scored 2288 runs. She averages more than 50 in both the Test and ODI formats.
"May I say that I am aware that by writing this email I am making myself even more vulnerable. She is a COA member while I am just a player," she lamented.
"But the brazen support of a COA member is a clear sign of bias and also that a stance has already been taken against me. By saying 'I don't support someone' and then going all out to support my benching in the press is prejudice of the clearest sort," said Mithali.
She, however, made it clear that she has no hard feelings for T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who was a party to the decision of her being dropped for the semi-finals and stood by it even after the defeat.
However, her relationship with Powar hit nadir in the West Indies and Mithali said she still hasn't understood the breakdown.
"My issues with the coach started immediately as we landed in the West Indies. At first there were small signs that his behaviour towards me was unfair and discriminatory," she alleged.
She said that Powar's behaviour caused her "stress".
"For instance, walking off if I am sitting anywhere around, watching in the nets when others bat but choosing to walk away when I am batting in nets, if I try to go up to him to talk to start looking into his phone and keep walking," she said.
"It was embarrassing and very evident to everyone that I was being humiliated. Yet I never lost my cool.
"Finding the situation completely out of control and realising that it is important to resolve issues as it affects the team I reached out to the team manager and conveyed my grievances."
According to Mithali things went from bad to worse after that.
"After the meeting his behaviour turned worse. He would not even acknowledge me. To him I didn't exist in the team.
"If I was around he would immediately move away from the scene, if I looked to wish him he would deliberately start looking in other direction. He continued to behave badly as I have already informed you yesterday. It appeared to me that for him the meeting had hurt his ego."
Mithali said she was even asked not to show up at the ground by Powar during the game against Australia.
"In the evening after the team meeting before the Australia game, Ramesh rings up in my room and instructs me not to come to the ground as the media will be there," she alleged.
"I was taken aback as to what media has to do with me being with the team. I was told I was not to be with my own team in one of our biggest games. I was shell shocked."
Mithali said Powar also deliberately ignored her at nets to make it clear she won't play the semi-finals after which she broke down.
"It was worrying and insulting because the coach was out to destroy and humiliate me," she wrote.
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2 men dragged for 300 metres by truck in Agra; locals save their lives
Agra, Dec 23: A truck driver dragged two people for about 300 metres in Agra under his vehicle, police on Monday said.
Some locals forced the driver to stop the truck and extricated the men from under the vehicle.
Police arrested the driver and seized the truck.
The two men, both residents of Nunhai in Agra, were going towards Rambagh from Waterworks when they met with an accident around 11 pm Sunday.
The driver, instead of stopping the truck sped up, trapping both of them underneath, police said.
"In the accident, two youths were dragged by a canter driver for about 300 metres. Later, some residents saved the youths by stopping the driver using force," Chhatta Police Station Inspector Pramod Kumar told PTI.
"The youths were sent for treatment at a nearby hospital and are still being treated, but are in stable condition. The youths were from Agra. The canter driver was arrested and the canter seized after the incident," he said.
A video of the incident that surfaced on social media showed the men shouting for help.
The video was purported to have been shot by a person passing by on a two-wheeler.
“पिछली पोस्ट में वीडियो में युवकों को मोटर साइकल सहित ट्रक वाला कई मीटर तक घसीटता हुआ ले जाता गया देखा था,
— Umashankar Singh उमाशंकर सिंह (@umashankarsingh) December 23, 2024
अब जनता द्वारा उस ट्रक ड्राइवर की ठुकाई पिटाई का समारोह देखिए।”#Agra@madanjournalist
pic.twitter.com/Qh5ncyWtEa
HORRIFYING!
— Sanjay Kishore (@saintkishore) December 23, 2024
In Agra, a truck driver dragged two men for 300 meters. Locals intervened, stopping the truck and saving the men. Both are stable but continue receiving treatment. The driver has been arrested and the truck seized.
pic.twitter.com/1ply5wemfX
