Ex-India women's cricket team skipper Mithali Raj retired from all forms of international cricket last week. The veteran cricketer represented India for 23 years, donning the national jersey in more than 200 ODIs. During his illustrious career, Mithali Raj broke several records in women's cricket, hanging her boots as the highest run-getter in the sport with more than 10,000 runs across all formats. Despite her numerous records, however, there was a time in her career when she was involved in a massive controversy with current national women's coach Ramesh Powar. The whole episode happened after Mithali Raj's name was omitted from India's playing XI for the 2018 T20 World Cup's semi-final clash against England.

Things turned sour between Mithali and Ramesh Pawar at that stage and reportedly there was an ugly confrontation between the two. Subsequently, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had to intervene between the two to resolve the matter.

Now Mithali Raj has broken her silence over the controversy, claiming that the feud with Ramesh Powar had left her hurt, frustrated, and irritated at the same time.

“When you find yourself in the middle of chaos, you can't really think straight because you are feeling all sorts of emotions, even if you want to internalise and think from your brain and not from your heart. It would still be like you are hurting, so you will probably never have clarity if you are in chaos,” Mithali Raj told India Today.

“Take some time and get out of it and then see it as a third person to understand how better you can respond to it or is it necessary? Sometimes it is okay to be quiet. It also requires a lot of courage when you are treated unfairly… everybody knows only one side of the story and when you feel that way it is fine because, at the end of the day, I am someone who is goal-oriented. I had a purpose – to play cricket at the best optimum level that I could. If I had to achieve that each time, when I get on to the field and I wanted to give my best, it is not just about my skill but it was also about my mental state of mind,” she added.

“I had to be in the best possible space in my mind to go out there and give my best. So, for me to be in that good mental space, I had to overcome or get through that moment of hurt, anger, frustration, irritation and eventually did, because I realised my purpose was not to be involved in that moment for long. The moment had to pass, that is what sport has taught me. In cricket, when you score a hundred, the next day you again have to start from the beginning, you don't start from hundred. Obviously, that phase did hurt me a little bit but I overcame and that is why I was able to give the performance I did in the last year and half. I was able to overcome those emotions,” the former Indian women's team captain concluded.

Mithali Raj is the holder of several world records in international women’s cricket.

She is the only female cricketer to breach the 7,000-run barrier in Women’s ODIs and is the lone women’s player to hit seven fifties in a row in ODIs to date.

Mithali Raj holds the record for most fifties in Women’s ODIs too. She ended her journey in ODIs with 64 half-centuries to her name, well ahead of the 46 made by Charlotte Edwards of England who called time on her international career back in 2016.

Mithali donned the India jersey for the first time in 1999, making her national debut against Ireland in an ODI.

She was also the captain of the Indian women’s team for a long period and is the only female player to have captained the national side in more than one ICC ODI World Cup final, accomplishing the feat in 2005 and 2017.

Earlier this year, Mithali Raj captained India in yet another World Cup, this time in New Zealand, but was unable to guide it through to the semi-finals.

Overall, the stylish right-hand batter made 10,868 runs across all formats of the sport and is currently the leading run-scorer among women in international cricket.

While she amassed 2364 runs in 89 T20Is, she could only make 699 runs in 12 Test matches.

It was the ODIs though which were Mithali Raj’s forte as he finished her career with 7805 runs – the most in the 50-over format.

Talking about centuries and fifties, Mithali Raj smashed eight tons and a record 85 fifties in her long career which lasted 23 years.