Mithali Raj, India women’s ODI team captain, feels that the issue of strike rate in cricket often gets more importance than it deserves.

Mithali, along with coach Ramesh Powar, addressed a virtual media conference before their departure for New Zealand, where they will play a five-match ODI series, beginning on February 11, before taking part in the World Cup in March-April.

Answering a question on the importance of strike rate, Mithali said: “I think too much importance is given to strike rate. It is always spoken of when it comes to batting or putting up big totals.

“For me, cricket is a game played on situations on the ground. And yes, it is important that we keep that in mind that we need to have a healthy strike rate. But having said that, we are not only entirely focussed on strike rate. Sometimes you have to play fast, but sometimes you have to play to get your team out of the hole too.”

Mithali, who led the team to the final in the last edition in 2017, also thinks that the current batch has got more exposure due to playing leagues in England and Australia and are better prepared. “Many girls have got opportunities to play leagues abroad. So it does give a lot of exposure to many players.”

Head coach Powar, on the other hand, defended the omissions of Jemimah Rodrigues and Shikha Pandey from India’s ODI World Cup squad, saying “if you don’t perform, you don’t get chances”.

(Written with agency inputs)