I’ve not really thought about my future: Mithali on retirement

Christchurch: She may have earlier hinted at a possible retirement at the end of the Women’s World Cup, but veteran India captain Mithali Raj on Sunday said it’s not the right time to take a call on her future just after the country’s heart-breaking exit from the showpiece. The 39-year-old Raj, the lone women cricketer […]

Christchurch: She may have earlier hinted at a possible retirement at the end of the Women’s World Cup, but veteran India captain Mithali Raj on Sunday said it’s not the right time to take a call on her future just after the country’s heart-breaking exit from the showpiece.

The 39-year-old Raj, the lone women cricketer to have played in six World Cups after making her maiden appearance 22 years ago, said she has not even come out of the disappointment of failing to qualify for the semifinals after India’s three-wicket lost to South Africa here.

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“You’ve not given me even an hour to think about my future, to go through and process what has just happened today,” Raj said in the post-match virtual media interaction, replying to a query about future plans. “When you have a disappointment and in the campaign which ends like this in a World Cup where you’ve really prepared very hard over a year, it takes time to accept and then probably move on from there. Whatever the future holds for each and every player, so I’ve not really thought about my future.”

Raj, only the third cricketer (men and women) after Sachin Tendulkar and Javed Minadad to play in six World Cups, had earlier dropped hints about her retirement, saying “life has come full circle” for her as she looked forward “to finishing the journey”. But on Sunday, she said she will take a call on her future career when the “emotions are settled down”.
“I am not in… It would not be appropriate for me to comment on my future, considering that the sort of game that we just played and as emotions are still there,” Raj said when prodded if the South Africa match was her last in India colours. “It needs to settle down before I could sort of have clarity on that and give an answer to that.”

Lacking in consistency throughout the World Cup, India lost to South Africa by three wickets in their must-win game to make an exit from the tournament. “Honestly, right now I don’t have any emotions. I’m just trying to get a hang of how the match has gone through,” Raj said. “Probably it will hit me, maybe tomorrow, because at some point we’ll have to deal with the disappointment. It’s a process that will take time.”

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