Women's World Cup: No clarity on Mithali Raj's future

Skipper says needs time before taking a callSkipper Mithali Raj and pace ace Jhulan Goswami's World Cup dreams ended in heartbreak on Sunday. While a three-wicket loss to South Africa in Christchurch brought the curtains down on India's campaign, Mithali was evasive about the road ahead for her. "It will not be appropriate for me to comment on anything, considering the sort of game that we just played, and the emotions are still there. So, it needs to settle down before I have a clarity on that and give an answer," she said.

Read AlsoWomen's World Cup: India crash out after last-ball defeat to South Africa

The emotions ran high at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Sunday. India, finalists at the previous edition of the Women's World Cup, exited the tournament by the smallest of margins. A spirited South Africa pulled-off a last-ball thriller to break a billion Indian hearts.

Asked about handing over the baton to the younger generation, Mithali explained, "There will be generations of players coming and going, the team will have to get going after every World Cup, there is always a change in the team. There'll be fresh faces in, there will be some experienced players as well. So, I think every team has to go through this process of rebuilding a team after the World Cup and prepare for the coming World Cups in another four years. We are no different, probably the Indian team also will go through the same transformation." Pointing to a bright future, Mithali, a veteran of six World Cups in the format, added, "I think the future definitely is very bright looking at Richa (Ghosh), Yastika, Sneh Rana and Meghna Singh. In the coming years, these girls will definitely play a good standard of cricket. I'm sure the team will