Mithali-Powar controversy: Darkest day of my life, tweets emotional Mithali

India women's cricket legend Mithali Raj on Thursday took to Twitter to express her thoughts after coach Ramesh Powar had stated that he hoped "Mithali stops blackmailing, pressurising coaches and putting her interest first than the team."

While Mithali had sent out a strongly-worded email to the BCCI about Powar, the latter responded back to the Indian Board stating that he was "saddened by her attitude" and that "she threw a lot of tantrums and created a lot of chaos."

On Thursday morning, Mithali reached out to her fans and cricket followers with a tweet: "I'm deeply saddened & hurt by the aspersions cast on me. My commitment to the game & 20yrs of playing for my country.The hard work, sweat, in vain. Today, my patriotism doubted, my skill set questioned & all the mud slinging- it's the darkest day of my life. May god give strength."

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar on Wednesday took to social media and stated that he felt sorry for Mithali. "Feel really sorry for Mithali. Contents of her letter should not have come out. Tough week for her, the blunderous dropping from the semis and now this," he tweeted.

I'm deeply saddened & hurt by the aspersions cast on me. My commitment to the game & 20yrs of playing for my country.The hard work, sweat, in vain.Today, my patriotism doubted, my skill set questioned & all the mud slinging- it's the darkest day of my life. May god give strength

— Mithali Raj (@M_Raj03) November 29, 2018

The Mithali Raj-Ramesh Powar showdown came to light when Mithali sent out a scathing letter to the BCCI a couple of days. “My issues with the coach started immediately as we landed in the West Indies. At first, there were small signs that his behaviour towards me was unfair and discriminatory but I did not bother much about it,” she had mentioned in her letter.

Powar, on the other hand, mentioned in his letter that he was “saddened and baffled” by the attitude of the senior cricketer. “I was saddened and baffled by her attitude. It gave me a impression that for Mithali Raj she comes first and then team India,” stated Powar in his letter.

It was Mithali’s manager who started things off with a tweet showing her dissent against skipper Harmanpreet Kaur post India’s defeat against England in the World T20 semifinal in which Mithali was dropped.