Cricket / Punam Raut shares stats after 2022 Women's World Cup snub, says 'Extremely disappointed'

Cricket Desk: Representing your country in World Cups or equivalent tournaments remains one of the biggest dreams of sportspersons. But, not every athlete is lucky enough to fulfill this dream. After the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Indian squad for the forthcoming Women's ODI World Cup, batter Punam Raut was left heartbroken.

Punam, Jemimah Rodrigues and Shikha Pandey were among the notable absentees from the Indian squad. While Jemimah and Shikha haven't yet reacted to the snub, Punam decided to write put a critical post on social media highlighting her frustration.

“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. 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,” Punam wrote on Twitter.

As far as statistics go, Punam does have a point. She was, in fact, India's highest run-scorer in the 5-match ODI series against South Africa at home in 2021. In total, she had scored 263 runs in 5 innings, averaging 87.67.

Punam had last featured for India in an ODI on June 27, 2021, against England at Bristol. She scored a total of 32 off 61 balls in that particular game.

While Punam's case is an intriguing one, the likes of Shikha and Rodriguez were reportedly dropped from the team owing to poor form. The women's cricket team's chief selector, Neetu David, refused to delve into the selection details when asked.

“Right now we are not allowed to speak,” David told UNI when she was asked about the debatable snubs. On being asked if the selectors will address media about the calls they made into selecting certain players and snubbing others, Netu said: “Right now, I have no idea.”

All in all, Raut has played 73 ODIs for India, scoring 2299 runs at an average of 34.83, with the highest score of 109 not out. 

The only logic behind her absence from the Indian squad could be her poor strike-rate of 58.26. As far as average goes, Punam remains one of the top performers for the team.