India captain Harmanpreet Kaur revealed that she wanted to take an indefinite break from the game because of the controversy that followed the World T20 in the West Indies.
The decision to drop Mithali Raj for the semifinal against England triggered a controversy that led to a division in the team and ouster of coach Ramesh Powar.
Harmanpreet played the Women’s Big Bash League right after the World T20, but back home the talk of unrest in the side and her strained relationship with ODI captain Mithali gathered steam.
She was fed up with all this even before the New Zealand tour began under new coach W.V. Raman. And then came the ankle injury that gave her a “much-needed” break.
“I wanted to get away from cricket. Whatever happened around the team before that was immensely draining for me. Some of the things said were so far from reality that I felt ‘I need to step away from this madness for a while,’” she told ESPNCricinfo.