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Former India captain Diana Edluji didn’t mince words and brutally criticised the women’s team after their poor performance against Australia in the three-match ODI series. Edulji slammed the Indian team for their fitness and suggested that things might not be well between the players, coach, and the captain. While Smriti Mandhana slammed a century in the third match and Arundhati Reddy picked a total of four wickets, Women in Blue suffered a whitewash.
Edulji said that the BCCI is doing everything possible to promote the game and now it’s the team’s responsibility to convert all its efforts to deliver performances and results. She told Mid-day, "Either they are not training properly or the fitness levels are zero, and that is showing in their fielding and catching. We have to [play lower ranked teams]. We are not going into any confidence-boosting. Now you’ve got the West Indies team coming here. I don’t know how this scheduling is done. The BCCI is talking about pay parity. They are doing everything for women’s cricket.”
Our players should not be allowed to play WBBL, The Hundred: Diana Edulji
The 68-year-old also opined that Indian players shouldn’t be allowed to play in tournaments like WBBL in Australia and The Hundred in England. She said, "I think our players should not be allowed to play WBBL in Australia and The Hundred in England. They should go into fitness camps instead. The WBBL is not going to get affected if you don’t send your players. Everybody will come to India to play because of the money [in the WPL in any case]. So, that’s not a worry at all.”
She added, "It’s absolutely disappointing. I don’t think the coach, captain and players are on the same page. They just don’t seem to be gelling. There is too much chopping and changing of the playing XI all the time. The batting order is not settled. Richa Ghosh is not an opening bat. Why are you ruining her?"
