India's decision to drop Mithali Raj from the semi-final of ICC Women's World T20 against England came under the scanner after they suffered an eight-wicket defeat in the all-important clash on Thursday (November 22).

Even after a couple of days, the hue and cry regarding Mithali’s snub hasn’t stopped yet. Raj's personal coach RSR Murthy has now revealed that veteran India cricketer was "terribly disappointed" for being axed from the playing XI.

"Mithali was told after the warm-up session on the morning of the semifinal that she doesn't figure in the playing eleven, leaving her terribly disappointed," Murthy told Sportstar.

"Only last night, I spoke to her and she looked mentally and physically geared up for the semifinal and even hinted that she might not open but would play in the middle-order. I told her just to enjoy batting in any position she gets a chance. But, apparently, the coach and the captain Harmanpreet Kaur took the call to drop her," he added.

Mithali had played two games in the tournament, registering the scores of 56 and 51 against Pakistan and Ireland respectively. Her experience might have come handy on a slow pitch in Antigua, where India got bundled out on 112. England chased down the paltry target with 2.5 overs to spare.

Murthy said Harmanpreet's reaction to Mithali's axing after the match was even more disappointing.

"What is even more extremely disappointing is the statement by the captain that she doesn't regret dropping Mithali for the semifinal. This is not the way to treat someone who gave her everything for the game,” he said.

"...given Mithali's stature and the fact that she was the player of the match twice in this World Cup, logically she should have been there given her experience and class for such a big match," Murthy further remarked.

After the match, Kaur had said that she had no regrets over the decision to drop Mithali for the tie against the 50-over world champions.

"Whatever we had decided, we decided for the team. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but no regrets," Harmanpreet told reporters after the match.

"Sometimes you have to change your game according to the wicket. England bowled well, they read the wicket really well. Credit goes to them, we've learned a lot from this game. It was not an easy total to chase, and our bowlers bowled really well to stretch the match till the 18th over," she added.