India captain slams 'foul-mouthed' England

Mithali Raj: England were 'foul-mouthed' © Getty Images

The seemingly good-natured women's series between England and India which ended last week was anything but according to Mithali Raj, India's captain.

In an interview with the Times of India, Raj slammed England, claiming they were "foul-mouthed" and "speak rot." She added: "They keep saying nasty things about us. Even their former players, who were part of the commentary team, criticised us on air. It hurts to hear them say things like 'Indians are bad tourists'. We couldn't digest this when it started to happen off the field too.

"We decided to give it back to them. First it was our close-in fielders who gave the Englishwomen the shock treatment and slowly it spread to the entire team.

"This war assumed such proportions that the English made Reema Malhotra's life miserable when she was at the crease with the score at 74 for 5, while chasing 98 for victory. A distraught Reema walked to me and I told her to simply giggle at them," Mithali continued. "Truly, they were put off with her response."

Mithali also accused Charlotte Edwards, England's captain, of being scared of Jhulan Goswami. "Jhulan was a nightmare for them, especially Edwards. They were so terrified of Jhulan that even if she bowled a full toss they never dared to hit that. Edwards was so scared after losing her wicket several times to Jhulan that she frequently changed her batting position. But I ensured that Jhulan greeted Edwards no matter when she came in."

The ECB denied the accusations and said that the series had been played within the spirit of the game. "As far as England were concerned it was played in a friendly and competitive way," a spokesman said. "At no point did any England player breach the ICC Code of Conduct nor were any players approached by the umpires throughout the series. No England women's player has had any disciplinary charges brought against her under Richard Bates' coaching."