Mithali Raj wants tips from MS Dhoni on winning a ‘toss’, watch viral video

Indian skipper Mithali Raj said that it was a ‘tricky’ call as to when India would declare their second innings and try for an outside chance of victory against Australia in the drawn ‘Day/Night’ Test.

Mithali Raj (left) and MS Dhoni. (Source: Twitter)

India women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj, who lost another toss in the drawn pink-ball Test against Australia, confessed after the game on Sunday (October 3) that winning tosses is something she would like to learn from former India captain MS Dhoni. Mithali couldn’t control her laughter when she said it though.

The veteran Indian batter also went on to reveal how her teammates poke fun at her record with the tosses. “I didn’t want that to become a legacy. The way the girls have been pulling my leg for that! So I thought I should change. I really think I need to take a cue from MS Dhoni on how to win a toss,” Mithali joked, at the post-match press conference.

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India played well considering the conditions were different from what they are used to in India. Also, had the rain not played a part, then things could have been a lot more different. The Indian captain pointed that while praising opener Smriti Mandhana.

“Had we got four more wickets we would have gone for a few more overs. Rain took a lot of time out of the game. We tried to do whatever we could in the time we got. Jhulan (Goswami) has always been my best bowler for so many years and she shares her experience with the young bowlers. We do have couple of young seamers, Meghna and Pooja, who have done well in the ODIs and they get to a learn a lot,” Mithali said at the post-match presentation.

Mithali said that it was a ‘tricky’ call as to when India would declare their second innings and try for an outside chance of victory against Australia in the drawn ‘Day/Night’ Test.

The visitors dominated the proceedings in a game were 80 plus overs were lost in the first two days due to rain accompanied by lightning. Many expected India to declare their second innings at tea but they did come out for a few more overs setting up an improbable victory target of 272 for the hosts in a quarter of session.

“It was a little tricky as to when we could declare. Getting eight wickets in 15 overs was a bit of a stretch,” Mithali said.

Mithali termed this as best Test match performance by India considering this was their first Day/Night Test and certainly better than their away win against England in 2014. “Against the best sides, definitely yes. (Against) Australia this is the best game we've played. But in 2014, with eight debutants winning a Test in England against England, who had just won the Ashes. That was also very close. That was pretty great. The girls really put up a great show,” she replied.

(with PTI inputs)