‘I’m extremely disappointed’ – Poonam Raut disheartened with World Cup snub

Many notable faces have been excluded in India’s squad for the Women’s World Cup 2022. The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the 15-player squad on Wednesday (December 5) and the cricket world is far from pleased. The Neetu David-led selection committee ignored the likes of Jemimah Rodrigues, Shikha Pandey and Poonam Raut, who have been an integral part of the national team since a while.

Disappointed by the decision, Poonam took to Twitter on Thursday (January 6) and expressed her emotions. A veteran of 73 ODIs, Poonam has been one of the most experienced faces in India’s current team. However, the selectors didn’t consider her for the mega event. The decision was pretty surprising as the 32-year-old did exceedingly well in ODIs last year.

It is very disheartening to be continuously left out: Poonam Raut

In six ODIs in 2021, Raut slammed 295 runs at an average of 73.75. This also includes a hundred and two half-centuries. Highlighting all these factors, the veteran batter said she’s disappointed after being left out. “Having been considered amongst the experienced batsmen and a consistent run-scorer for India, I’m extremely disappointed at not being a part of the World Cup squad,” Poonam wrote in a post on Twitter.

“In 2021, I averaged 73.75, scoring 295 runs, which included a hundred and two half-centuries in the six ODI games that I played. It is very disheartening to be continuously left out even after performing. Having said that, I would like to extend my best wishes to all the players who will be representing India,” she added.

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— Punam Raut (@raut_punam) January 6, 2022

For the unversed, Raut’s last ODI appearance was recorded against England in Bristol last year. As far as her ODI numbers are concerned, Raut has scored 2299 runs at a pretty decent average of 34.83. However, her strike rate of 58.26 might be a reason behind her ouster from the team.

India squad for 5 ODIs against NZ & ICC Women’s World Cup, 2022: Mithali Raj (Captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Renuka Singh Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav.

Standby Players: Sabbhineni Meghana, Ekta Bisht, Simran Dil Bahadur.