Veteran female cricketer Mithali Raj on June 8 announced her retirement from all forms of international cricket. 

Mithali has contributed significantly to international cricket over a 23-year career and has wrapped it up with a total of 7,805 runs from 230 ODIs, the highest in this format. The go-getter retired from T20 in 2019 and was expected to retire from all formats after India won the ODI World Cup in March.

Mithali posted a heartfelt letter on Twitter confirming her retirement from international cricket. “Thank you for all your love and support over the years! I look forward to my second innings with your blessing and support,” read the tweet. 

The tweet has more than 77.7K likes and 3000+ comments. One Twitter user commented, “You were the first name I knew when I heard about women’s cricket. Thank you Ma’am for your service to Indian Cricket. Your longevity will be unparalleled.”

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As cricket fans extended support for the cricket player, here are some interesting facts about Mithali Raj.

1)     Mithali Raj scored 2,000 runs in T20 cricket to become the first Indian cricketer to do so.

2)     An Arjuna awardee, Mithali Raj is the only female Indian cricketer to not be dismissed for a duck for seven years (2000-07). 

3)     Mithali Raj is the first and only female Indian cricketer to make seven consecutive centuries in ODIs and the only player to captain two ICC ODI World Cup finals.

4)     Mithali Raj was introduced to cricket by her parents as a means to make her active and disciplined. “From the beginning I played cricket only to make my parents happy,” she told the BCCI in an interview.

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5)     If not cricket Mithali Raj would have pursued a career in the civil services, she revealed in an interview with SportsKeeda. 

6)     Mithali Raj became the youngest captain for India’s women cricket team at the age of 21 years and 4 days.

7)     The ‘Lady Sachin’ was the youngest women’s cricketer to score a century on her debut in ODIs at the age of 16 in a match against Ireland.

8)     Mithali Raj became the first female cricketer to win the Wisden India Cricketer of the Year in 2015.