Committee of Administrators' (CoA) member, Diana Edulji, has defended the exclusion of Mithali Raj from the Women's World T20 semi-final saying that the team selection is a management decision and it cannot be questioned.
Raj's exclusion from the starting line-up against England raised many eyebrows at the time and when the Indian batting collapsed, the decision to drop her snowballed into a huge controversy sparking fire and fury from various quarters.
Raj along with T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Trupti Bhattacharya met BCCI officials on Monday individually to narrate their respective ends of the incident that happened in North Sound, Antigua before the World T20 semi-final.
The BCCI officials – CEO Rahul Johri and General Manager for Cricket Operations, Saba Karim – will also meet the coach of the women's team, Ramesh Powar before submitting an official report on the matter to the CoA.
Although reports have emerged of a rift in the team arising due to a lack of timely communication to Raj about the big decision, Edulji stated that the committee cannot question the management on matters relating to team selection.
"I think too much is being made out of it. The management 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 told PTI.
"We can't be questioning the team eleven. Another example is of Krunal Pandya, who was thrashed in the first T20 but bounced back strongly yesterday. These things happen in the game," she said referring to Pandya's man of the match performance (4-36) against Australia at Sydney on Sunday.
India's next assignment is an away tour to New Zealand in January, where both Harmanpreet and Mithali will be in action as the captains of the T20I and ODI sides, respectively.
