Indian captain Mithali Raj made history on Saturday when she broke the record for most games as captain in the ICC Women’s World Cup. Raj had now surpassed former Australian skipper Belinda Clark’s record by leading her team in 23 matches.
India took on the West Indies on Saturday in the team’s third match of the 2022 ICC Women’s World Cup. With this match, Mithali Raj now captains India in World Cups for the 24th time. Mithali, 39, now led the country in 24 World Cup matches, claiming 14 wins, 8 defeats and one without a result.
Interestingly, Mithali and Clark are the only two cricketers to have led their country at more than two World Cups.
Last Sunday, Mithali became the third cricketer and first woman to appear in six World Cups alongside the iconic Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistani great Javed Miandad.
India had chosen to hit first in the game against the West Indies at Seddon Park in Hamilton. The Indian side managed to book an impressive total of 317 for the West Indian side to chase. Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur both scored in India’s innings for centuries. Mandhana eventually came in at 123, while Kaur managed to score 109 runs. The duo forged a partnership of 184 runs for the fourth wicket.
India has so far a mixed tournament. After having played two games with one loss and one win. The Indian side managed to beat Pakistan in their first match of the tournament, but lost to New Zealand in the second.
The Mithali Raj-led squad lost 62 runs in the second league game of the ICC Women’s World Cup in Hamilton on Thursday. New Zealand, which dominated the Indians all summer, didn’t change a well-known script by first scoring a healthy 260 for 9. Then they choked out the ‘Women in Blue’ before knocking them out for just 198 in 46.4 overs.
(With PTI inputs)
Also Read:Mithali Raj becomes first female cricketer to play in six World Cups