ICC Rankings: Mithali Raj Among Top Three ODI Batters

As the Indian women's cricket team performed brilliantly in the recently concluded One-Day International series against Sri Lanka, skipper Mithali Raj climbed up to spot no. 3 on the ICC batting rankings table. The Indian captain moved four spots after her stellar performance in the three-match series, scoring 177 runs, including a 125 in the final outing as India won the series 2-1.

While Raj holds the third spot, opener Smriti Mandhana retained her fourth spot on the table with scores of 73* and 51 in the first and the third game. However, Harmanpreet Kaur, with just the 24 runs across three games, slipped down four places to No.17.

Ellyse Perry and Meg Lanning, the Australian duo, head the list for batters.

In September, the team lifted the ICC Women’s Championship trophy, and Raj emerged with a career-best knock of 125 not out. In April, Raj added a new feather to her cap. The 35-year-old right-handed batswoman became the first Indian cricketer to score 2000 runs in Twenty20 Internationals (T20I). Raj even beat Virat Kohli in this race and achieved the feat after scoring a single off Oshadi Ranasinghe en route to her knock of 23 during India’s Women’s T20 Asia Cup match against Sri Lanka in Kuala Lumpur. With this, Mithali stands with a score of 2,015 runs in 75 T20Is. She achieved it with the help of 14 half-centuries. She has an average of 38.01 with the highest score of 76 not out.

READ: Mithali Raj To Write Her Memoir

Raj became the seventh woman to reach 2,000-runs, joining the likes of Charlotte Edwards (2,605), Stafanie Taylor (2,582) and Suzie Bates (2,515)

Raj is a powerful sporting icon who has become a household name, particularly after the team's performance during 2017 Women’s World Cup in England.

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She has been the backbone of Indian women’s cricket. And has led the team to two World Cup finals and her batting performance has been India’s best till date. Arguably, she has put Indian women’s cricket on the centre stage.

More power to you, Captain!

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