Purnima blames NZ media

Fortunately, the officials and the umpires concerned did not find any fault with her action. “The umpires did not feel anything wrong with my action,” said Rau, adding “the issue was blown out of proportion by the New Zealand media to shatter our team’s confidence as we won the first four matches confidently.”

Rau said that it took two days for her to recover from the shock and think, “If I can’t bowl, I can bat in the tournament.” However, Rau admitted that the incident affected her bowling performance which was evident in the next few matches.

The veteran, who was playing in her third World Cup, batted with aplomb. Yet her steady 67 failed to help India’s cause as they lost to New Zealand, the eventual winners. “We were outplayed by a better team like New Zealand and Australia,” said Rau, who was also disappointed with the batting performance of her teammates in the semi-final. “None of them gave me a good stand. Anjum Chopra, Chandrakantha, Anju Jain all failed in that all-important match,” said Rau who went in as an opener. The fielders too dropped some easy catches.

The Indian team unfortunately missed the services of young Mithali Raj, who was down with typhoid. “Her absence was unfortunate because because she was in a very good form. We missed her badly,” said Rau, who well might have played her last World Cup.