Mithali Raj reclaimed the No. 1 spot among Women’s ODI rankings for batters. Raj aggregated 206 runs in the series against recently concluded ODI England, scoring a fifty in each of the three matches. Raj had started the series at eighth place. She made 72, 59, and an 86-ball 75 not out in the three innings.
This is the eighth time that Raj reached the top spot in an international career spanning over 22 years. She was at the top of that list first in April 2005, and most recently in February 2018.
Raj’s interval of more than 16 years at the top spot is the longest for any woman. She surpassed Janette Brittin, who was No. 1 in both 1984 and 1995. Debbie Hockley had achieved this in 1987 and 1997.
Debutant Shafali Verma’s 44 and 19 in the last two England ODIs helped her enter the rankings at 71st place. Jhulan Goswami, who is on fourth place in the bowlers’ list, gained four places to 53rd on the batting chart.
Riding on 3-47 in the final ODI, Deepti Sharma, World No. 5 all-rounder, jumped to 12th in the bowlers’ rankings tally.