Cricket News

Chief of the Governing body of international cricket praises Mithali Raj for inspiring many

Mithali Raj, the longest-serving woman cricketer in the country has finally hung her boots in what came as surprise to many. The Jodhpur born cricketer has an international career spanning more than 20 years. A timeframe in which she motivated thousands of girls to take up cricket and millions to work towards her dream. The ICC Chief, Geoff Allardice has reiterated the same sentiment as a tribute to the cricketer.

The 39-year-old played 232 ODIs, 12 Tests and 89 T20Is for the Indian Women’s National Cricket Team in a career spanning more than two decades. In that time she has created a lot of records one of them being the highest run-scorer in Women’s ODIs with 7805 runs with an average of 50.68 in 232 matches. The right arm batter also has seven centuries and 64 half-centuries to her name which is one more than Brian Lara! On Wednesday, June 8th, the legendary cricketers retired from all forms of cricket having already taken retirement from T20Is in September 2019.

Giving voice to the sentiments of many, the ICC Chief Geoff Allardice said, “Mithali is one of the all-time greats of the game. Over the past 23 years, many young girls and boys will have been inspired to take up the sport after watching her.”

The ICC chief was hopeful that the Indian cricketer would remain involved with the game and grace the sport with her experience. Reiterating the same through an ICC official statement the ICC chief said, “Mithali has played a huge role in raising the profile of women’s cricket during a crucial period of its growth and I sincerely hope she will stay involved with the game in the coming years. On behalf of the ICC, I congratulate her for a fantastic career.”

The Indian Women’s Cricket team is slated to play the first of a three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka on June 23 in Rangiri.