India women’s team captain Mithali Raj has hinted at retirement from cricket after the Girls in Blue were knocked out of the ongoing ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 tournament as they were beaten by South Africa by 3 wickets in Christchurch on March 27.
The Sune Luus side chased down the 275-run target after lots of drama in the final over.
It was a last-over thriller which South Africa won after a no-ball from Deepti Sharma on the penultimate ball of the final over, helped Player of the Match Mignon du Preez take her side past the finishing line at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Sunday.
The 39-year-old skipper was deflated as she reflected on India’s exit from the tournament. Raj had captained India in two previous heartbreaks as well when they lost in the finals of the 2005 edition and the 2017 edition of the World Cup.
Mithali Raj is likely to bring the curtains down on a celebrated career, in which she played 6 World Cups.
Speaking after the defeat, Mithali said: "Everything should come to an end, it'll take time to settle the emotions, but that is sport. Thanks to everyone who turned out for every Indian game, it was nice to hear your cheers and keep supporting the girls and the Indian women's team in the future. Her experience (Jhulan Goswami) would have added a lot, but this was an exposure for the other girls to step up.”
The skipper, who finishes as the leading run-getter in women's cricket, lauded the team for their efforts and never-say-die attitude.
"I personally feel the girls gave it all, it was an important game, was a good game, it ended our campaign, but I'm proud of the girls for coming so far. With the bowlers we had, I thought 275 was a good total, we had defended similar totals in the past," she added.
For India, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma and Mithali Raj hit half-centuries as they posted 274/7 in 50 overs. For South Africa, Laura Wolvaardt top-scored with 80.
Mithali, who made her debut in 1999, played 231 ODIs and hit 7737 runs, a women's ODI record which included 7 hundreds. She played 12 Tests and 89 T20Is as well.
