GUWAHATI: Until last November, Mithali Raj was not in the spotlight as far as T20s were concerned. The fallout between the then coach Ramesh Powar and her during last year’s World T20, when she was dropped for the semifinal due to a poor strike rate, started the debate whether the veteran should be playing the shortest format.
Ahead of the New Zealand series, there were reports that the 36-year-old will bring down the curtains on her international T20 career after the ongoing series against England, while continuing in the 50-over format. Even against the White Ferns, she featured only in the third and final match of the series, which India lost 0-3.
But on Tuesday, Raj ruled out the possibility of retirement after the three-match series at home. India are currently one-nil down and the second match is on Thursday. “Of course, there has been a lot of speculation about me retiring from T20s. I would like to say that I have not officially come out with a statement. If at all I decide to do that, everybody will come to know at some point,” she told this newspaper.
Although Raj refuted retirement talk as speculation, she said she has a lot to improve in this format. With the T20 World Cup 11 months away, the batter revealed that she has not taken a call on whether she will be featuring in the event in Australia. “As far as T20 World Cup is concerned, it all depends on what the team is looking at. I have not decided on (playing) T20s next year but I just want to see how it goes. It is a format that I still feel I have a lot to improve in as a player because that is something even the one-dayers demand of me.
“As a player, you always want to challenge yourself, want to win matches. You want to upgrade yourself to the current standards of the international level whether it is T20s or ODIs. In both formats, I have a long way to go in terms of learning and adapting to situations.”
If she decides to hang up her boots before the World Cup, coach WV Raman and others will have a lot of work to do with a middle-order looking fragile. India lost five successive T20Is because of this batting collapse. There were and are still doubts over Raj’s strike rate and her ability to cope with the fast-paced game, but whether India could find a replacement for her before the world event — if she is not in the picture — is still a question.