Mithali Raj-led India have come back home after getting knocked out of Women’s World Cup 2022 at the league stage. India could not make it into the semi-final after a loss to South Africa in their last league game by a narrow margin. After returning from an unsuccessful campaign, the team’s performance will be assessed by the management.
“Management is not happy at all with the team’s performance. The board secretary will talk to the captain Mithali Raj and the chairman of the selection committee,” a BCCI official told Sports Tak.
After playing the final in the last edition of the 50-over World Cup, India looked lacklustre on New Zealand pitches and lost key games during the league stage. Mithali was not in good form either as she could score only 182 runs from seven innings at an average of 26 including two half-centuries.
“The kind of performance we have seen was unexpected. There were a lot of issues. We will see what the team manager reports in the tournament’s assessment report, as per protocol,” the source added.
After India’s exit from the tournament, Mithali made it clear that she is in no mood to retire from international cricket. Amidst criticism, the 39-year-old’s ODI captaincy maybe in danger after a dismal performance in New Zealand.
“There were also reports from players that the team was not in the same mind frame during the tournament. We will see what needs to be done for the betterment, the source concluded.
Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana are two options for the ODI skipper. Harmanpreet is already leading the T20I side which played the final of T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia. There were doubts over Harmanpreet’s batting form but she finished as India’s second-highest run-scorer in the tournament. Mandhana is also a regular in all formats of the game and one of the best batters in the side. She finished as the highest run-scorer in the World Cup. She has had experience of leading the T20 side in Women’s Challengers Trophy.
