Mithali Raj retires from international cricket

[maniac]

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/indias-mithali-raj-announces-retirement-from-international-cricket-1318812
 

a legend of the game and one of the names that put Indian women’s  cricket on the map

 

she kind of got to that too big to fail level towards the end where there were divisive opinions on her approach etc but her stats speak for themselves about her talent.

 

good luck post retirement champion.

 

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by maniac

[maniac]

 

[Vijy]

No doubt Didi was a great player at her peak and an ATG player of women's cricket. with that said, equally no doubt that she overlasted her stay and might have also played politics or showed ineptitude leading to non-selection of some players in 2021 WC who should have been there (e.g., meghana; rodriguez)

 

On the whole, I am thankful to her for her long period of service and wish her the best of luck in new career

Edited June 8, 2022 by Vijy

[Texan]

My opinion on her is very divided.

 

While she did make women's cricket popular in India and women cricketers started getting recognition, I feel like her approach towards the game was a classic case of stat padding. Her intentions did not appear to be in the interest of the team and due to that, I definitely cannot consider her as a great cricketer. 

[Vijy]

39 minutes ago, Texan said:

My opinion on her is very divided.

 

While she did make women's cricket popular in India and women cricketers started getting recognition, I feel like her approach towards the game was a classic case of stat padding. Her intentions did not appear to be in the interest of the team and due to that, I definitely cannot consider her as a great cricketer. 

not necessarily stat padding, but definitely a conservative approach that hurt team at times

[raki05]

Finally. 

[Gollum]

Inspiration for many but her selfish approach to batting especially in last 5-6 years hasn't helped one bit. Should have been booted out from all formats after the 2016 WT20 disaster. 

[Majestic]

A great of the game without a doubt. An inspirational figure for all the girls around the country to take up the sport.

[Vijy]

On 6/9/2022 at 11:51 AM, Gollum said:

Inspiration for many but her selfish approach to batting especially in last 5-6 years hasn't helped one bit. Should have been booted out from all formats after the 2016 WT20 disaster. 

yes, absolutely. overstayed her time. I think 2017 ODI WC would have been a good time to leave the scene

[putrevus]

While she did render a great service to Indian cricket. I don't think she was ever a great player in odis.She should have been kicked out long time ago from the team.

[Vijy]

1 hour ago, putrevus said:

While she did render a great service to Indian cricket. I don't think she was ever a great player in odis.She should have been kicked out long time ago from the team.

her SR was certainly an issue, but most people don't remember how weak Ind squad was from her debut until about 2014-15 or so. Most batters were scoring at 50-60 SR. Hence, having one consolidator up to 2015 was fine IMO. it is especially in past few years, when women's ODI have seen big increase in tempo (thanks to lanning, healey, dottin, etc), that Didi has become a burden.

 

On the whole, given how tuk-tuk women's game was until ~5 years ago, I'd still rate her a "great" player for women's ODIs (which must be measured differently from men's ODIs until 2015).

[vvvslaxman]

Regardless of her tumultous last few years, she was an inspiration for many women cricketers.  Started when women's cricket was rated less than that of a Tennis ball cricket.  Credit to her for motivating herself to perform over 2 decades.  Her few minus points towards the end of her career are easily over-hsadowed by her overall contribution to Indian women's cricket. End of an era. Say what you want. She is India's pride. Good luck with your retirement.