For the first time in the history of the competition, women's cricket will be featured at the 2022 Commonwealth Games to be played in Birmingham. Cricket was last played in the multi-sport event in 1998 when a 50-over competition was held.

This time, however, the Commonwealth Games will feature T20 matches, that will pit the top eight women's teams against one another.

India has a decent chance at the upcoming competition, according to Indian legend Mithali Raj, who just announced her retirement from all forms of the game. According to the former Indian captain, if India does well, the nation may even receive a medal.

IRE v IND 2022: Indian cricket fraternity reacts as India seal clinical 7-wicket win in 1st T20I

In an interview with Sportskeeda, Mithali Raj said, “The team definitely has the potential to do well in the Commonwealth Games. That said, when we head into a big event, preparation is very important. You need to make the most of the available resources and be tactically astute in such big tournaments. If these things work out, I think we’ll have a good shot at a podium finish."

But Mithali also emphasised that she had no plans to postpone her retirement until after the Commonwealth Games.

"See, the Commonwealth Games will be played in the T20 format. I retired from T20s in 2019, so the Commonwealth was never in the scheme of things for me," added the highest run-scorer in women's ODI cricket.

Mithali also said that this is the right time for the Women's IPL.

"I don’t think we are late. There are a lot of factors involved in launching such a big event. It would have taken the board at least a couple of years to sort things out before launching the Men’s IPL as well. Earlier, we didn’t have a big pool of women cricketers in India," she said.

She also hinted at a comeback in the women's IPL. "I want to keep my options open," she replied cheekily on being asked if she wants to play in the Women's IPL.

(Sportskeeda inputs)