Captain Mithali Raj has been a huge servant of Indian cricket. The most capped woman cricketer in history, Raj, on Saturday made a huge batting record as she became the leading run-scorer across format in international cricket, going past former England’s batter Charlotte Edwards.
Raj and Edwards are the only two players to breach the 10000-run mark in women’s international cricketers and the India captain climbed the peak by overtaking Edwards’ tally of 10,273 runs.
During the league stage of the 11th edition of the ODI World Cup, Raj went past Edwards to become the highest run-getter in women’s ODIs. In the same match, against Australia, she became the first batter to cross 6000 runs in the format. Her 58 fifties, three of which came in the ODI leg of the ongoing multi-format series against England, are the most by a woman in ODIs.
BCCI reacts to Mithali Raj’s record:
To celebrate the occasion, the BCCI on Sunday put on a special tweet, highlighting Raj’s outstanding achievement. With Mithali surpassing Edwards on Saturday, the record for the leading international run-scorer in both men’s and women’s cricket belongs to cricketers from India with Raj joining Sachin Tendulkar.
Raj finished on 75 not out, helping India pull off a thrilling win and preventing a 0-3 sweep. Adjudged Player of the match, Raj said on Sky Sports: “I never gave up in the middle. It’s being in the middle because you can’t win the match sitting out in the dugout. I wanted to win the game for the team. I just needed to get the partnership to take it to the last.”
“That’s something that kept me going through the innings. I knew in the middle overs I could manage the game. When you have young players in the side, you need to guide them along, that’s a responsibility.”– she added. When asked about becoming the highest run-scorer in women’s internationals, Raj said, “I’m just happy, thank you.”
Mithali Raj, quit T20I cricket in September 2019, and is placed at No. 7 on the list of the leading run-scorers in the format, with 2364 runs at an average of 37.52 and strike rate of 96.33. Harmanpreet Kaur, who succeeded Raj to T20I captaincy, is the only other Indian in the top ten of that chart. She has completed 22 years as an India cricketer last month, is one win away from becoming the most successful captain in women’s ODIs.
