Published 22:25 IST, September 3rd 2019
Cheteshwar Pujara has a heartwarming message for Mithali Raj
Cheteshwar Pujara had a special message for Mithali Raj. Pujara hailed her and said that she is an inspiration for tons of girls out there. Raj retired from T20
- SportFit
- 3 min read
Cheteshwar Pujara did not have a good run in the West Indies tour. Pujara, who was the leading run-scorer in the 2018-19 tour of Australia could manage just 60 runs in the two-match Test series which kickstarted Team India's ICC World Test Championship. Cheteshwar Pujara's highest score in the series was 27 which came in the second innings of the final Test match. Cheteshwar Pujara will next be seen in the three-match Test series against South Africa starting from October 2. Cheteshwar Pujara, who is arguably India's best Test batsman in modern-day cricket took to social media to hail a legendary cricketer and captain who has had an illustrious career.
Cheteshwar Pujara hails Mithali Raj
Veteran Indian batter Mithali Raj announced her retirement from T20 Internationals on Tuesday. She led India in 32 T20Is India including 3 Women's T20 World Cups in 2012 (Sri Lanka), 2014 (Bangladesh) and 2016 (India). As Mithali Raj hung up her boots from the game's shortest format, Cheteshwar Pujara took to the micro-blogging site and congratulated Raj on a great T20 international career. The Cheteshwar Pujara then hailed Mithali Raj by saying that she was an inspiration for tons of girls out there.
Read Cheteshwar Pujara's tweet here:
BCCI confirms Mithali Raj's T20I retirement
In a statement issued by BCCI on Tuesday, Mithali Raj has stated that she has decided to retire from T20Is to focus her energy on the 2021 One Day World Cup, speaking about her dream to win the World Cup for India. She further thanked the BCCI for the continued support and wished her team good luck for their T20I preparations. Mithali is the first Indian to reach the landmark of 2000 T20I runs.
“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. It remains my dream to win a World Cup for my country and I want to give it my best. I thank the BCCI for their continuous support and wish the Indian T20 team good luck as they prepare for the home series against South Africa Women,” said Mithali Raj in the statement.
Mithali Raj's illustrious cricketing career
Mithali Raj served as the captain during India Women’s first-ever T20I played in Derby back in 2006. Following her win in that game against England Women, Mithali played another 88 games in which she scored 2364 runs - the most by an Indian woman in T20Is.Notably, she is the only player to have captained India in more than one ICC ODI World Cup final, by doing so twice in 2005 and 2017. She has also served as a batting consultant for India women's national cricket team and had also played as a player-coach.
Updated 23:13 IST, September 3rd 2019