Mithali Raj announces her retirement from T20 internationals

Hyderabad: Veteran Indian Cricketer and Indian Women's team captain in Tests and ODI, Mithali Raj has stepped back from the shortest format of the game, the T20s.

Mithali who led India in it's first-ever T20 international back in 2006 against England, captained the team for 32 games which include three T20 World Cups, i.e. 2012 (Srilanka), 2014 (Bangladesh), 2016 (India).

She is highest run-scorer for India in the T20's with 2,364 runs in the 89 games that she's played. She has 17 half-centuries in the 89 games with an average of 37.52 with the highest score of 97*. In the women's Twenty 20 Asia Cup 2018, she edged Virat Kohli to become the first Cricketer from India ( Both male and female ) to score 2000 T20I runs.

Suzie Bates (22) and Stafanie Taylor (21) are the only two women who have notched up more 50+ scores in T20 internationals than Mithali (17).

In a BCCI press statement, Mithali said, " After representing India in the T20 internationals since 2006, I wish to retire from T20s 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 the South African Women."