Harmanpreet Kaur, India Women’s T20I captain, on Friday (October 4), added another feather to her already illustrious career, as she became the first Indian cricketer, male or female, to appear in 100 T20 Internationals.
Kaur achieved the milestone when she turned up to lead India in the final T20I of the six-match series against South Africa Women in Surat on Friday, registering her 100th T20I match in the national jersey.
She pipped Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni, who has played the highest number of matches – 98 T20Is for Indian men's team so far, to achieve the milestone while joined Pakistan's Bismah Maroof and West Indies' Stafanie Taylor who also have 100 appearances in the format.
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With the latest feat, the 30-year-old is now one of the 10 female players who have reached the three-figure mark in terms of appearances in the T20I cricket, while New Zealand's Suzie Bates and Australia's Ellyse Perry are leading the chart with 111 appearances.
Thanks to BCCI and Cricket South Africa for arranging an additional T20I match to make up for the two washed-out matches of the series, the right-hander got to achieve the landmark game in front of an adoring home crowd of more than 15,000 at the Lalabhai Contractor Stadium.
Her 100th T20I match was a memorable one, as Kaur’s teammates presented her a commemorative cap, embroidered with the number 100 at the side, a cake awaited in the dressing room.
Meanwhile, BCCI took to Twitter to congratulate Kaur on the achievement and shared a video where the head coach of the team WV Raman can be seen presenting a special cap to the Indian skipper to congratulate her on her mark in the T20I cricket.
Have a look here:
Having made her debut as a 19-year-old a decade ago against England in Taunton way back in June 2009, the all-rounder has taken 27 wickets and scored 2,003 runs at an average of 28.61 in T20Is so far.
In the previous match of the series on Thursday, Kaur also became the second Indian women cricketer after Mithali Raj to score 2000 T20I runs. India won the T20I series 3-1 against South Africa Women.
