Indian Women's Cricket team Captain Mithali Raj recently added another milestone in her glorious career as she set the world record for longest career, completing 22 years in international cricket.
The most remarkable aspect of this achievement is the fact that no one in women's cricket comes closer to the Indian skipper in terms of duration of career.
At 16, Mithali announced her arrival in International cricket in style, hitting an unbeaten 114 on her ODI debut against Ireland on 26 June 1999. Since then, there was no looking back for the ambitious teenger as she soon established herself as one of the strongest pillars of Indian batting.
Mithali, with her sound technique and the ability to play the anchor role in all three formats saw her become the greatest batswoman in Indian Cricket and inspired millions of girls in India and all over the world to take up cricket.
In 2017, Mithali became the highest run getter in Women's ODI Cricket, surpassing former English captain Charlotte Edwards, and also became the first woman to breach the 6000 run mark in the format.
Mithali announced her retirement from international T20s in September 2019, as India's highest run scorer with 2,364 runs in 84 innings.
In an ODI career spanning 22 years and 91 days, Mithali has represented India in 215 matches scoring 7,170 runs, most by any Women in International Cricket, averaging an exceptional 51.21!
Mithali was bestowed with the prestigious Arjuna Award for Cricket in the year 2003. In 2015, she was honoured with 'Padma Shri', India's fourth highest civilian award for her exceptional services to Indian Cricket.
India women’s cricket team is currently touring England to participate in a multi format series. England Women won the first ODI by 8 wickets. The women in blue will look forward to giving Mithali the perfect gift of victory in the second ODI scheduled to take place at Cooper Associates County Ground,Taunton on Wednesday, 30 June.
Stay updated with the latest cricket news and latest sports news only on www.spogonews.com
