India’s women Test captain Mithali Raj has said that he was left amazed after the decision of calling off the Test match against the England women’s team with 12 overs remaining in the match.
India’s middle-order was collapsed totally in the one-off Test match against but then an unbeaten 104-run partnership between debutant all-rounder Sneh Rana and Taniya Bhatiya saved the match with their terrific innings.
“We wanted to continue the play and that’s what we informed to the opposite captain, and they continued,” Mithali was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo on Saturday.
“But then I was told by Sneh Rana because even I was a little on the back foot when I saw the bails coming off and them walking out. So I asked her what happened and she said it was a bad light call taken by the umpire.
“That’s what they were told. But then I saw the teams were congratulating (each other), so the umpires told that since both the teams are congratulating, it’s pretty much taken that the match is over. That’s what I was told by Sneh Rana. So that’s what happened,” said Mithali.
However England skipper Heather Knight said the message couldn’t be conveyed to Mithali as she “couldn’t be found”.
“It became apparent to us that it was going to end in a draw, so we asked to shake hands with the Indian team. We couldn’t actually find Mithali, so I think eventually a message got back to us that we were to carry on, which was fine.
“And then the umpires took us off for bad light and then the Indians came over and shook our hands. So that was what happened,” said Heather.
India women’s side is set to play 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is. England won the first ODI by 8 wickets where Mithali and company batted first gave the target of just 202 runs.