'Batting unit was not well-ordinated': Mithali Raj rues India's close defeats after World T20 exit

Mohali: Her poor form has been one of the primary reason for India women’s disappointing campaign in the ICC World T20 but skipper Mithali Raj did not give straight-forward answers after team’s unceremonious exit from the marquee event. Mithali’s slow batting against Pakistan and England which fetched 16 of 35 balls and 20 off 33 balls was the primary reason for India’s defeat but her explanation was one can’t be consistent in this format. [caption id=“attachment_2697250” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Mithali Raj. PTI[/caption] “Maybe, this tournament wasn’t as great as expected, but in T20 format, you can’t really be very consistent. The ups and downs are part of this format. I guess, in these three games, the batting unit was not well co-ordinated,” Mithali’s answer at the post-match conference was not at all convincing. The Hyderabad girl blamed it on poor fielding at crucial junctures. “As a fielding unit, we were inconsistent, I would say because at crucial times when I thought we were squeezing them for runs, we let those slip-ups,” she said. She however did agree that most of the batswomen failed to play a significant knock, scoring in 20’s. “Some stood up scoring those 20s, but we didn’t have somebody who could take the team along. That is something we need to work on. Though we could not make it to the semi-final, the way the last three games have gone, each time there were challenges, they (bowlers) got the team back in the game,” she tried to put up a brave defence. She feels that youngsters will gain a lot from this series. “I am sure with these experiences, in the coming games and tournaments, we will be able to handle the pressure better. In events like World Cup, there will be always be pressure and the girls need to accept that,” she said. PTI