From one legend to another, Anil Kumble congratulated and applauded the illustrious career of Mithali Raj after the latter announced her retirement from international cricket on Wednesday.
Mithali Raj Announced Retirement From International Cricket
Raj took to Twitter to announce her decision, saying that “I feel now is the perfect time to call curtains on my playing career as the team is in the capable hands of some very talented young players and the future of Indian Cricket is bright.”
She also added that she’d “love to stay involved in the game I love and contribute to the growth of Women’s Cricket in India and world over.”
Tributes in form of texts, images and videos promptly started to flow on social media platforms as Raj concluded her 23-year long, storied international journey that had started in 1999 with a century while she set the record for the youngest women’s ODI centurion, aged 16 years and 205 days, a record which stands till date.
She represented India in 12 Tests, 232 ODIs and 89 T20Is amassing a tally of 10,868 runs making her the leading run-scorer in women’s international cricket; with 7805 runs in ODIs, she’s the highest run-getter in women’s ODIs. She notched up a record 64 ODI half-centuries, plus 21 fifties in the other two formats to go with 7 ODI hundreds and one three-figure score in Tests – 214 against England in 2002.
Not long after making her debut, Raj was ascended to the captaincy post. She led India to the final of the 2005 World Cup, hitting a brilliant 91 in the semi-final. 12 years later, she once again led India to the World Cup final in 2017, in England, becoming the first, and only, male or female, Indian to captain the team to two ODI World Cups finals. However, India lost both of those finals.
Anil Kumble Wrote A Heart Winning Reply
Among many, Anil Kumble’s tweet, celebrating Mithali Raj’s historic career has gone viral, wherein he hails the 39-year-old as a role model and an inspiration.
India’s leading international wicket-taker, Kumble tweeted: “Congratulations @M_Raj03 on a glorious career. You are a role model and an inspiration to many. Wishing you the very best in your second innings”
Here, check out Anil Kumble’s reply:
Congratulations @M_Raj03 on a glorious career. You are a role model and an inspiration to many. Wishing you the very best in your second innings
— Anil Kumble (@anilkumble1074) June 8, 2022
