Indian batting legend Mithali Raj completed 20 years in international cricket, a feat which is achieved only by a handful of cricketers. To celebrate her 20 years, BCCI and the Indian women's team arranged a cake-cutting ceremony for Mithali Raj. The caption on the cake read “3000 Congrats Mithali 20.” The mentioning of 3000 on the cake indicated her completion of 3000 runs in ODI cricket while chasing. Mithali Raj is the first batswoman to achieve this feat and also the first woman cricketer to complete 20 years of top-flight cricket. The entire ceremony was captured in photographs by the BCCI who later shared it on their official Twitter handle.    

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Mithali Raj completes 20 years in international cricket

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The right-handed batswoman made her ODI debut against Ireland women team at Milton Keynes on July 26, 1999. The stylish player slammed an unbeaten century on her debut itself by scoring 114 while opening the innings. Ever since her debut, Mithali Raj has only looked forward and went towards the same vein which was indicated in her first innings. Raj has appeared in 206 ODI’s, scoring 6808 runs at an average of 51.18. She has also registered seven centuries and 53 half-centuries throughout her career with the highest score of 125*. Mithali Raj has also led Team India to two ICC World Cup finals, however, the esteemed cricketer is yet to win the coveted title. She recently announced retirement from T20I’s to focus entirely on the upcoming 2021 ICC Women’s World Cup to be held in New Zealand.

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Home series against South Africa

When Mithali Raj stepped onto the field for the first ODI against South Africa, she completed 20 years in ODI’s. In the final game of the 3-match ODI series, the India women team scored 146 while batting first. The Indian skipper had a forgettable outing, scoring just 11 runs off 46 balls. The target, however, turned out sufficient as the hosts won the game by 6 runs to complete a 3-0 sweep over the visiting South African women team.

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