BCCI Vice President opens up about Mithali Raj's decision

On Wednesday (8 June 2022), Mithali Raj announced her retirement from all formats of the game. She said that she is looking to begin something and will continue to contribute to the Women’s cricket in her best possible options.

Her teammates and fans showered a lot of praises for her through their social media platforms. BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla also reacted to her decision by congratulating her for her contribution throughout all these past years to Indian cricket.

“Mithali Raj is the one who took Team India to its pinnacle” - Rajeev Shukla

Speaking to ANI, Rajeev Shukla told that it was completely her decision as the board has nothing to do with it. Her contribution to the Indian Women’s cricket is immense and she took the Indian Women's cricket to a height, based on performance and leadership. He said: “In my view, Mithali Raj’s contribution as far as Indian women’s cricket is concerned is immense. You are aware that women’s cricket in India was not in a good condition, two decades back and there were even financial problems. Later, BCCI decided to take it under their setup, and today team India is able to face teams like Australia and England which are far more developed,”

He also added that her leadership skills helped the Indian Women's Team in guiding in the right direction until now. “Mithali Raj is the one who took Team India to its pinnacle, not just in terms of performance but also in terms of leadership. As you know that BCCI never forces anyone to take such calls so it was ultimately her own decision to retire. We would like to wish her all the best and we hope that she keeps on contributing to Indian women’s cricket,” BCCI Vice President concluded.

Speaking about her illustrious career, Mithali played 12 Tests, 232 ODIs, and 89 T20Is for India. In those matches, she scored 699 runs at an average of 43.68, 7805 runs at an average of 50.68, and 2364 runs at an average of 37.52 respectively.