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'Still haven't got rid of colonial mindset telling India what to do': Vanitha VR slammed for remark on Isabelle Westbury
On Tuesday, former English cricketer turned writer and commentator Isabelle Westbury and India player Vanitha VR engaged in a war of words on Twitter.
On Tuesday, former English cricketer turned writer and commentator Isabelle Westbury and India player Vanitha VR engaged in a war of words on Twitter. The topic of debate was over Mithali Raj, whose strike rate has come under the scanned despite the former captain scoring back-to-back half-centuries against New Zealand. Westbury made an observation about Mithali, which triggered a string of aggressive responses from Vanitha.
Mithali scored 59 in the first ODI and an unbeaten 66 in the second, but the fact that she scored these runs off 73 and 81 balls, made Westbury feel that the veteran batter is both ‘best’ and ‘worst’ thing about India women’s cricket at the moment. "Mithali Raj is both the best and worst thing about Indian cricket rnow. #NZvIND," she had tweeted.
Vanitha, who has played 6 ODIs for India, countered Westbury’s opinion and asked her to focus on her own country’s performance in women’s cricket. There is only the ‘BEST’ to it . Rather than worrying so much about Indian cricket , it will do you a world of good to worry about England . They were drubbed by the Aussies,” Vanitha responded.
Westbury stuck to her stance, and shared a screenshot of her column where she had indeed raised concerns over English cricket. The former England cricketer debated that while Mithali’s contribution has been immense, she is preventing Indian women ‘s cricket from moving forward.
“Cool cool, I disagree. Surely that’s okay? Imo Mithali’s both one of best to have played but wholly unsuited to India’s progression. And I am surely allowed to hold that opinion? And yes, believe me, I worry a lot about England. My most recent words on the subject, I believe...” Vanitha tweeted.
However, things snowballed quickly with Vanitha coming up with a furious reply where she questioned Westbury’s cricketing knowledge pointing towards her limited appearance for the national team. “Sorry just asking how many international games have you played? Didn’t find your stats on Wikipedia. You still haven’t got rid of your colonial mindset telling India what to do. Get yourself together Brit!!”
A surprised Westbury was taken aback and replied: "Wait, wot! Sorry, I digress. Zero, zilch, nada, niente. I think my dad was correct when he said I was better off the pitch than on it. I will, umm, I guess hold my, umm, colonial (did we actually go there? Ah, we did. Verging on Godwin's Law?) mindset to, err, myself?
Vanitha’s remark sent social media on a meltdown with the India cricketer later deleting the tweet. However, the damage was done as she received flak from users on Twitter.
India cricketer Punam Raut joined Vanitha in her support towards Mithali. “Agreed. @ImVanithaVR Instead of criticising, learn & accept the fact that @M_Raj03 been a consistent performer in recent world cricket, the world can c the truth , your tweet makes no sense and no difference to anybody. Use ur precious time in focusing on other players,” she tweeted.
