Mithali Raj has been a cornerstone of women’s cricket in India since her debut for the national team in 1999 and after playing against South Africa women’s on Sunday (March 07, 2021), the Indian skipper has now played an ODI game in four decades, spanning her career to 21 years and 254 days. Only Sachin Tendulkar has played the One-Day international format for a longer period of time (22 years and 91 days). Harmanpreet Kaur Becomes 5th Indian Woman to Play 100 ODIs.

Indian women’s cricket team resumed cricketing action after a year-long break amid the coronavirus pandemic against South Africa women. The clash was played at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium in Lucknow. Although the match didn’t go as planned for the Women in Blue as they lost by eight wickets but it was a milestone game for their skipper Mithali Raj, who now has the longest ODI career behind the great Sachin Tendulkar. ICC Women's ODI Rankings 2021: Smriti Mandhana Drops Two Slots, Mithali Raj Retains Ninth Spot.

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Mithali Raj played a crucial knock in the match, scoring a brilliant half-century as she guided India to a score of 177/9 in 50 overs. However, this score wasn’t enough for India to record a win on their competitive return as South Africa managed to chase it down easily, winning the match by 8 wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the 5-game ODI series.

Raj made her ODI debut against Ireland on June 26, 1999, and since then has went on to play over 200 games for the national team in the format. She is also the highest run-scorer in women's international cricket and the only female cricketer to surpass the 6,000 run mark in Women's One Day International matches

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 07, 2021 05:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).