Mithali Raj, one of the most successful woman’s cricketer, has announced retirement from T20I on Tuesday (3 Sep).
In her T20I career, she played 89 matches and scored 2364 runs (most by an Indian woman Cricketer) at an average of 37.52 including 17 fifties with a career best of 97. She captained India in 32 matches including 3 T20I World Cups in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
In the press release, issued by BCCI, she quoted “After representing India in T20 internationals since 2006, I wish to retire from T20Is to focus my energies on readying myself for the 2021 One Day World Cup.” She also mentioned that it’s her dream to win a world cup for India and she wants to give her best for that. However, she also said that she wasn’t sure of her participation for the next World Cup which will be held between February 21 and March 8 in Australia.
In November 2018, during the T20 World Cup because of a major controversy, she was left out from the semi-final against England. India lost that match and reports stated of a dispute between Mithali and current T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur. Later on, Kaur explained that the idea is to give more opportunities to the younger girls.
She also thanked BCCI for their continuous support and wished the Indian T20 team good luck for the upcoming home series against South Africa Women.
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