Yes, you read that right! Mithali Raj has more runs than any male cricketer in T20Is now. Mithali achieved this feat in the Women’s World T20 group stage clash against Ireland on November 15. The Indian opener scored her 17th T20I half-century to go past New Zealand men’s opener Martin Guptill.
At the end of the innings, Mithali had 2,283 T20I runs compared to Guptill’s 2,271 runs. This might be her last World T20 tournament but she has given a hard time to bowlers and her batting contemporaries. She is already India’s highest run-scorer in T20Is. She did that in the previous fixture going past Rohit Sharma (2,207 runs).
However, she is the fourth highest run scorer in women T20Is. New Zealand’s Suzie Bates (2,996 runs) tops the list followed by Windies Stefanie Taylor (2,691 runs) and former England cricketer Charlotte Edwards.
With Mithali retiring from the shortest format of the game soon , other cricketers will get past her tally of runs. Yet, this is no mean achievement.
Who else, but @M_Raj03?
India’s all-time leading T20I run-scorer adds another half-century to her CV as her nation qualifies for the #WT20 semi-finals. pic.twitter.com/AozpPfpJSn
— ICC World Twenty20 (@WorldT20) November 15, 2018
Very few people know that the 35-year-old would have quit T20 cricket if Test cricket was played more often by women cricketers. Keeping that in mind, she did exceedingly well to keep up with the requirements of this format.
Like the ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar, she would have focused on the longest format of the game and made way for youngsters in the fast-paced format.
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