PM Narendra Modi has appreciated India women’s team ODI captain Mithali Raj and has said that the right-handed batter’s story is inspiring. Mithali became the first Indian woman cricketer to score 10000 runs across the formats.
"Indian cricket team's Mithali Raj recently became the first Indian woman cricketer to complete 10,000 runs in international cricket. Many congratulations to her on this achievement. She is also the first woman cricketer to score 7,000 runs in ODIs. Her contribution to women's cricket is brilliant," PM Modi said during the 75th episode of his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat'.
"She has inspired many through her two-decade-long career. Her story of hard work and success is an inspiration to not only women but also men cricketers," he added.
The Indian cricketer thanked PM Modi and tweeted, “Acknowledgement of milestones achieved in my career from our Hon’ble Prime minister Sri @narendramodi ji is a very big honour for me ,” she wrote.
Mithali added another feather to her hat after becoming the first woman cricketer to score 7000 ODI runs. She has represented India in 214 ODIs, 89 T20Is and 10 Test matches. She has notched up over 7000 runs in ODIs while has scored 2364 runs in T20Is and 663 in Tests respectively.
Raj made her ODI debut for India against Ireland back in 1999 and has been an integral part of the side since then. She first represented India in the longer format in 2002 against England while played her debut T20I against the same opposition in 2006.