Mithali Raj says she is deeply saddened and hurt

Mithali, whose omission from the Indian team in the World T20 semifinal raised many an eyebrow and brought to the fore an internal tussle,  expressed disappointment at her patriotism being questioned and said all that hard work she has put in over the last 20 years feels to be in vain.

"I'm deeply saddened & hurt by the aspersions cast on me. My commitment to the game & 20yrs of playing for my country.The hard work, sweat, in vain," she said on twitter.

"Today, my patriotism doubted, my skill set questioned & all the mud slinging- it's the darkest day of my life. May god give strengt," her tweet said.

Mithali's reaction comes after Powar alleged that the 35-year-old ODI skipper had been blackmailing and putting pressure on Team India coaches. The head coach said he was disappointed with the senior player's attitude.

In the 10-page report written to the BCCI officials on Thursday, the head coach of India Women’s team Powar accused Raj of not playing for the team and chasing after “own milestones” during the recently concluded World T20 tournament.

“Mithali Raj – a senior player in the team. Minimum inputs in team meetings not a single word of appreciation after finishing at the top of the table. Could not understand & adapt to team plan. Ignored her role and batted for own milestones. Lack of keeping the momentum going which was putting extra pressure on other batters,” he wrote.

Despite scoring two back to back-to-back half centuries, Mithali was dropped from India's last group clash against Australia before being sidelined from the semifinal game against England. While captain Harmanpreet Kaur had defended her omission by calling it a decision taken in the team's interest. Mithali accused coach Ramesh Powar of humiliating her and trying to destroy her during the tournament.

Mithali, in a letter to the BCCI, put forth her side of the story and alleged unfair treatment by the coach during the tournament. She slammed CoA member Diana Edulji for being biased and also wrote how she felt let down, deflated and depressed for the first time in her career. Reacting to her allegations, coach Powar too gave his side of the story and accused the veteran batswoman of being 'difficult to handle.'

After her open letter to the BCCI created a furore among the fans cricket great Sunil Gavaskar said he was sorry for how Mithali was treated during the tournament and said that her exclusion cannot be justified by the team management's reason to drop her.

"I feel sorry for Mithali. She has a very good point. She has served Indian cricket for 20 years. She scored runs.. she won player of the match in both matches (she played at the World T20)," Gavaskar was quoted as saying by India Today.

"What happened with Powar.. is very difficult to comment on that from here. It's difficult to accept whatever the reason was. They said they wanted to stick with the same team, I don't think that's a good enough excuse. You can't drop someone like Mithali Raj," he added.