Mithali Raj's Story Of Hard Work And Success Is An Inspiration To Women And Men Cricketers - PM Narendra Modi Congratulates India Captain For Becoming First Indian To 10,000 International Runs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated India Women’s ODI captain, Mithali Raj for becoming the first Indian – and second overall – to go past the 10,ooo run landmark in women’s international cricket.

Mithali Raj achieved this feat in the 3rd ODI of the home series against South Africa. Former England player, Charlotte Edwards is leading the run-chart with 10,273 runs in a 20-year international career from 1996 to 2016.

In the 4th ODI, she registered another record as the first female cricketer to score 7,000 runs in one-day internationals in her 213th ODI.

Mithali Raj’s contribution to women’s cricket is brilliant: PM Narendra Modi

On Sunday, PM Narendra Modi congratulated the right-hander during the 75th episode of his monthly radio program ‘Mann Ki Baat’. Modi said that Mithali Raj’s contribution to women’s cricket has been significant over the last couple of decades.

The right-hander made her India debut in 1999   and has so far played 10 Tests, 214 ODIs, and 89 T20Is having scored 663 Test runs at an average of 51.00, 7098 ODI runs at 51.06, and 2364 T20I runs at 37.52; she has struck 75 fifties and 8 hundreds in a career expanding over 20 years.

Also, despite retiring from T20Is a couple of years ago, she is still the highest run-scorer for India in the shortest format. Modi asserts that the 38-year-old batsman is an inspiration for both Women and Men cricketers.

“Indian cricket team’s Mithali Raj recently became the first Indian women cricketer to complete 10,000 runs in international cricket. Many congratulations to her on this achievement. She is also the only women international player to score 7,000 runs in ODI. Her contribution to women’s cricket is brilliant,” PM Narendra Modi said.

“She has inspired many through her two-decade-long career. Her story of hard work and success is an inspiration to not only women but also men’s cricketers,” he added.

India lost the ODI series by a 4-1 scoreline and the T20I series as well by a 2-1 margin. This was the first international assignment for the women’s team since the arrival of the pandemic.

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