ICC Women's World T20 - It Could Probably Be The Last World Cup For Me - Mithali Raj

India opener Mithali Raj scored a 47-ball 56 during their seven-wicket win over Pakistan in the 5th match of ICC Women’s World T20 2018, to start their campaign on a high.

Meanwhile, Mithali, who received the man of the match admitted that the 2018 edition might be her final ICC Women’s World T20 appearance. She also added that currently, she is thinking more than just her.

“Well, I see that representing the country is the biggest motivation and inspiration no matter how many years you spend there wearing the India colours,” said Raj after the match.

“But yes, when you also think that the team has gone through a lot of transition, and there are a lot of youngsters in the side, so at some point (thinking about) more than myself, whether I would be able to give the best or not. There are times when I think about the team, whether it is the right time to move forward, and I believe that now the team is settling, so it could probably be the last World Cup for me, the WT20 format,” she added.

Experience does play a role

The 35-year-old was pushed down to the middle-order in India’s tournament opener against New Zealand. However, she was back to opening the innings against Pakistan and added 73 runs with Smriti Mandhana for the first wicket.

“Well, that has always been my role of an opener in the team it’s just that maybe because it was a big team we were playing the first game, and we wanted somebody in the middle order, so experience does play a role when you want to push yourself down in the middle order,” she explained about the switch.

“I think today they felt that because there are spinners in the Pakistan side, and it would be wise to open, so I opened the innings for India,” she concluded.