Mumbai: Former India T20I captain Mithali Raj has announced her retirement from T20Is, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Tuesday (September 3).

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The 36-year-old Mithali led India in 32 T20Is including the three Women’s WT20 World Cups in 2012 (Sri Lanka), 2014 (Bangladesh) and 2016 (India).

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She was also the captain in India Women’s first-ever T20I played in Derby back in 2006. Since that win against England Women, Mithali played another 88 games in which she scored 2,364 runs, the most by an Indian woman in T20Is. Mithali is also the first Indian to reach the landmark of 2,000 T20I runs. She has also played 10 Tests and 203 ODIs for India.

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“After representing India in T20 internationals since 2006, I wish to retire from T20Is to focus my energies on readying myself for the 2021 One Day World Cup. It remains my dream to win a World Cup for my country and I want to give it my best. I thank the BCCI for their continuous support and wish the Indian T20 team good luck as they prepare for the home series against South Africa Women,” said Mithali.

Last year, there was controversy after Mithali was dropped from the Indian team for the World T20 semi-final against England which the team lost. However, captain Harmanpreet Kaur had justified her omission as she had said, "Whatever we decided, we decided for the team. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, no regrets."