Mithali Raj smashed her 16th T20 International half-century as Team India defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in the fifth match of the ICC Women’s World T20 2018 on Sunday.
Mithali Raj, who was also awarded player of the match for her impressive 56 runs off 47 balls, said the ongoing edition of WWT20 might be her final appearance for India in the shortest format of the game.
The ever-cool @M_Raj03 guided her country home with 56 runs from 47 balls, earning Player of the Match honours as India seized control of Group B #WT20 pic.twitter.com/NAFsUDD0JH
— ICC World Twenty20 (@WorldT20) November 11, 2018
“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 Mithali Raj after the match.
Speaking about her future in Team India, the highest ODI run-getter said, “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.” She added, “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.”
👏 @M_Raj03 brings up her half-century from 42 deliveries as India edges toward victory in Guyana 👏 #WT20 #WatchThis pic.twitter.com/JybOHhDJzt
— ICC World Twenty20 (@WorldT20) November 11, 2018
In the opening match of the World Cup against New Zealand, Mithali Raj was pushed down to the middle-order and was promoted as an opener on Sunday. Speaking about her position in batting line-up, Mithali Raj said, “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.”
“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,” Mithali Raj added.