Diana Edulji says she has not asked for Mithali Raj’s fitness log

A day after it emerged that the two-member Committee of Administrators consisting of Vinod Rai and Diana Edulji wanted Mithali Raj’s fitness log from the World Twenty20 and wanted to meet the concerned players, manager and coach to understand the reason behind Mithali’s exclusion from the team for the semifinal against England, which India lost by eight wickets, Edulji has told Mid-Day that she had not asked for the fitness log.



Mithali’s non-inclusion from the knockout clash has spiralled into a controversy, and Edulji disassocating herself from COA’s official stance complicates things further. The divide between Rai and Edulji had first come to the fore when they had taken different stance on the matter of the sexual harrasement allegations against Rahul Johri, the BCCI CEO.



In another report in Mid-Day, Annisha Gupta, whose tweets lashing out against Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian captain, has said that she is not Mithali’s manager as has been widely reported, but a freelance sports agent. “I don’t have any official designation for my work with Mithali since I am a freelancer and I have only brought her a few commercial deals and events,” Gupta as quoted saying to the newspaper. “I do this for other athletes as well and therefore, if any views are expressed by me, they are in personal capacity and not those of Mithali or in anyway endorsed by her.”



In one of her tweets, Gupta had called Harmanpreet “manipulative, lying, immature, undeserving captain”. Gupta has since then deactivated her Twitter account. She had earlier confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that it was her account. Later on, Nooshin Al Khadeer, the former India offspinner and Mithali’s closest friend in the circuit, tweeted disassociating Mithali from Gupta’s views.



“The comments made by people who appear to be associated with the Indian women’s team have been viewed with concern. Such statements made in the media are totally uncalled for. The BCCI has a hierarchy of officials specifically dedicated to the redressal of genuine greivances of players. This is the appropriate mechanism that should be utilised. Issues that have been the cause for the performance of the Indian women’s team will be appropriately addressed,” Rai was as quoted saying to Press Trust of India. “All players, the team management and persons associated with them must maintain decorum and follow the proper protocol."



Meanwhile, Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, said at an event in Kolkata, that he was not surprised at Mithali’s exclusion and related it to his playing days when he was benched from the team.



“No (I am not surprised)! I also have also sat in the dug out after captaining India. When I saw Mithali Raj being dropped, I said 'Welcome to the group'," Ganguly said. "Captains are asked to sit, so just do it. I have done it in Faisalabad (during the second Test against Pakistan in 2006). I didn't play an ODI game for 15 months when I was probably the best performer in one-day cricket. It happens in life. The best in the world are at times shown the door.”



Mithali scored back-to-back half-centuries against Pakistan and Ireland to bag the player of the match awards twice. It would be her last outing in the World T20, but Ganguly believed Mithali still had a lot to offer.



“You should always remember you're best because you did something and there's an opportunity again. So I am not too disappointed seeing Mithali Raj being asked to sit out. I have not been disappointed to see the reactions on the ground,” he added. “But I am disappointed because India lost the semifinals because I thought they had the team to go the distance. It happens as they say there's no guarantee in life.”