Mithali Raj: I have never skipped press conferences

India womenrsquos Test and ODI team captain Mithali Raj has stressed that womenrsquos cricket needs media support and she has never thought of skipping press conferencesMithalirsquos remark came after Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka decided to skip a media interaction because of her mental health in the ongoing French Open Osaka later pulled out of the OpenldquoI think it is tough to be in quarantine for any athlete But I think getting into a tournament we do not feel that Personally I have not felt that I should forgo a press conference because womenrsquos cricket right now needs media support and it is important for players also to sort of try and help in the growth of the sport So we need to try to promote the sportrdquo Mithali remarkedWhile Mithali may have made the media feel good with her utterances she indulged in some tough talk too That happened when her spat with head coach Ramesh Powar was brought up at a virtual press conference before the team left for a tour of England ldquoCan we move on from that It has been three years we are in 2021 and we should be looking forward now There are many more series coming uprdquo Mithali said on TuesdayMithali had been dropped from the playing XI against England for the 2018 T20 World Cup semifinal in the West Indies Following Indiarsquos eightwicket defeat Powar was sacked from the post Now Powar who has returned as coach of the Indian womenrsquos team endorsed Mithalirsquos views He said ldquoWe interact well otherwise I would not have come back to womenrsquos cricket Everyone grows up after three years Larger goals are in the picture This is a great opportunity for me Mithali and the whole group to take womenrsquos cricket to another level the BCCI is supporting usrdquoAfter a long gap of seven years the Indian womenrsquos team will play a Test match and Mithali will be leading Indiarsquos challenge in the oneoff Test at Bristol on June 16 It will be followed by a threematch ODI series starting on June 27 at the same venue Thereafter Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the team in three T20Is from July 9 at NorthamptonMithali 38 who has figured in 10 Tests 214 ODIs and 89 T20Is said ldquoItrsquos good to have Tests whether itrsquos home or away If therersquos continuity itrsquos great because it helps players as well Sometimes itrsquos nice to go in without any baggage You just go in play and enjoy the atmosphererdquoAlso Read Coach Ramesh Powar backs Shafali Verma to shine on England tour