India veteran Mithali Raj on Tuesday made herself available for the upcoming T20I home series against South Africa but with the focus on youngsters ahead of next year’s World Cup, the selectors may not pick her.
The five-match series begins on Sept. 24, while the T20 World Cup is scheduled in Australia in February-March.
The 36-year-old, who is the ODI captain and remains committed to playing the 50-over World Cup in 2021, is not an automatic pick in the T20 eleven.
“I am definitely available for the T20 series next month but, at the moment, haven’t really thought about the T20 World Cup. I usually take it series by series,” the Indian women’s cricket great told PTI when asked about his plans for the shortest format.
The selectors are scheduled to meet in Mumbai on Sept. 5 to pick the squad for the first three T20Is . The series in Surat will be followed by three ODIs in Baroda.
Needs to dicide
“Mithali has been a great of the game but she needs to decide soon on her T20 career. The T20 World Cup is six months away and the selectors need to try out a few players. And for that, they also need to know what Mithali’s plans are. She is also not an automatic pick in the eleven,” a BCCI official said.
It has been learnt that the selectors will speak to Mithali about her plans ahead of the team selection.
Mithali acknowledged the issues facing the team in T20 cricket. “We still have a lot to catch up on the T20 format but we do have youngsters coming in and with the exposure of T20 leagues around the world they will get more experience and mature faster,” she said.
“Genetically we can’t be like other teams but we can be more smart in our planning and shot selection. We worked very hard on our fitness and you can see the girls are much fitter,” added Mithali.
