T20 World Cup games have shown how far women’s game has advanced: Mithali Raj

Former India captain Mithali Raj has been impressed by the standard of Cricket displayed at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023. The tournament is reaching towards the end, with just one finalist left to be decided. Defending champions Australia booked their spot with a five-run win over India on Thursday in the first semi-final. The Meg Lanning-led side will face either England or South Africa after the second semi-final.

Raj said that the group stages of the ongoing tournament has been an example of the growth of women’s cricket so far. The 40-year-old also mentioned the importance of having two and three-dimensional players in every team.

“The group stages of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 have shown just how far the women’s game has advanced. All players understand the importance of having two and three-dimensional players now. Players with only one side to their game are not as desired in today’s game,” Raj told the ICC.

Raj hailed Australia skipper Meg Lanning and India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, stating that extraordinary batters like them can thrive in the game. The star India cricketer also said that the tournament was a good chance for other cricketers to develop their skills. 

“Only players like exceptional talent like Meg Lanning, Smriti Mandana and a few others who are extraordinary batters can thrive or a Darcy Brown or Shabmin Ismail who can clock 120 plus . Everyone else has developed their skillset and added to their overall game,” she said.

The top-order batter also talked about the next two T20 World Cups and reckoned that at that time the women’s standard will reach bigger heights. 

“It’s very exciting to think that we have two more T20 World Cups on the horizon. By then, the women's standard will definitely be two to three notches higher. All those players who have burst onto the international scene this time will be more experienced players by then. We have players like Alice Capsey from England, Richa Ghosh from India, and Renuka Thakur, who may be a little older but only came into the side last year,” she said.

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