Kohli congratulates Mithali Raj with a photo of Punam Raut on Facebook
Mithali Raj became the all-time leading run-scorer in women's ODI, surpassing Charlotte Edwards of England.
Mumbai: Indian women’s cricket captain Mithali Raj on Wednesday created history by crossing the 6000-run mark against Australia in a group match of the ICC Women’s World Cup. With this, she became the all-time leading run-scorer in women’s ODI, surpassing Charlotte Edwards of England. India, however, went on to lose the match by eight wickets.
Former Indian batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag lauded the right-handed batsman for her efforts.
Congratulations, @M_Raj03! Becoming the highest run scorer in Women's ODIs is a huge achievement. Also, superb knock today!
— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 12, 2017
The whole of India is super proud of @M_Raj03 's spectacular achievement of becoming the all time leading scorer in the world in Women ODI's
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) July 13, 2017
Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Bannerjee also joined in to congratulate Mithali
Congratulations @M_Raj03 for becoming the highest ever run scorer in the history of women's ODI cricket.We are proud of u #WomensWorldCup
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) July 12, 2017
One of the lots was Indian men’s cricket team skipper Virat Kohli who congratulated the star batswoman on Facebook and Twitter. Kohli wrote: “A great moment for Indian Cricket, Mithali Raj becomes the highest run scorer in Women’s ODI Cricket History today. Champion Stuff!” on his Facebook page.
However, one of Kohli’s many followers pointed out that the shared picture was that of Indian opener Punam Raut and not Mithali Raj. As the post drew more and more attention, it was quickly deleted from Virat Kohli’s account.
After posting 226 on board for the Australians to chase, the Indian bowlers were frustrated as Meg Lanning (76*) and Ellyse Perry (60*) made things easy for the Australians. While England, Australia and South Africa have made it to the semi-finals, India now faces a do-or-die situation in their final group match against New Zealand.