It all began when India excluded their star player Mithali Raj from the semi-final match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, back in 2018.
"Some decisions (exclusion of Mithali) are taken for the team, some will come off, some will not. No regrets," said Harmanpreet Kaur in the post-match ceremony after losing to England by 8 wickets.
All said and done, it was the darkest phase for the Indian women's cricket where many things changed with the exchange of few statements from different personalities. Mithali Raj played four T20Is for India after the controversy and eventually retried in September 2019 to focus on the 2021 ODI World Cup.
The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 is here. Hence, it’s imperative to look at how India have performed in Women’s T20Is post all the things which occurred during the last Women’s T20 World Cup.
India are at the fifth place in the list of winning most Women’s T20Is post the Mithali Raj controversy, among 10 teams which are participating in Women’s World T20, 2020.
Most wins in Women’s T20Is post the Mithali Raj controversy:
Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied/NR |
Thai Women | 25 | 21 | 4 | 0/0 |
Australia Women | 15 | 12 | 2 | 1/0 |
England Women | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1/0 |
Bangladesh Women | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0/0 |
India Women | 20 | 10 | 10 | 0/0 |
Note: Among teams which are participating in Women’s World T20, 2020
India Women have lost 10 T20Is post the Mithali Raj controversy, the most among teams which are participating in Women’s World T20, 2020.
Most defeats in Women’s T20Is post the Mithali Raj controversy:
Team | Matches | Lost |
Fiji Women | 12 | 12 |
Namibia Women | 19 | 11 |
Rwanda Women | 20 | 11 |
India Women | 20 | 10 |
West Indies Women | 15 | 10 |
India’s win percentage in Women’s T20Is dwindled by 16.67 percentage post the Mithali Raj controversy, as compared to two years before, which definitely say a few things about the importance of the legend in the playing XI.
India Women’s record in Women’s T20Is:
Event | Matches | Won/Lost | Tied/NR |
Post Mithali Raj Controversy | 20 | 10/10 | 0/0 |
Pre Mithali Raj Controversy (2 years) | 30 | 20/8 | 0/2 |
India Women have lost three of the five T20I series’ that they have played post the Mithali Raj controversy. They won two series post the controversy – one in India and one in West Indies.
India Women’s record in each T20I series post Mithali Raj controversy:
Winner | Opponent(s) | Matches | W/L |
New Zealand Women | New Zealand Women | 3 | 0/3 |
England Women | England Women | 3 | 0/3 |
India Women | South Africa Women | 4 | 3/1 |
India Women | West Indies Women | 5 | 5/0 |
Australia Women | Australia Women, England Women | 5 | 2/3 |
There was a lot of discussion around Mithali Raj’s strike rate in Women’s T20Is whenever she came out to bat and that was one of the main reasons why she was dropped from the team. However, post the whole controversy, only three Indian players have scored runs at a strike rate of 100-plus in Women’s T20Is.
Indian players to have a strike rate of 100-plus in Women’s T20Is post the Mithali Raj controversy: (Min. 100 runs)
Player | Matches | Runs | SR |
Smriti Mandhana | 19 | 621 | 128.57 |
Jemimah Rodrigues | 20 | 384 | 100.26 |
Shafali Verma | 14 | 324 | 140.86 |
It will be intriguing to see how the Indian team performs in this year’s Women’s World T20, especially during the crunch situations.
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