Poonam RautThe Indian women's cricket team is set to take the field once again. A T20 series between the Indian and Zimbabwean women's teams begins on October 16. However, just 24 hours before the start of the series, an experienced batter from the Indian side announced her retirement.
Veteran Indian opening batter Poonam Raut has retired from all formats of international cricket. Poonam announced this in a social media post, describing the opportunity to play for Team India as the greatest honor of her career.
On Thursday, October 15, 37-year-old Punam Raut posted a statement on Instagram, announcing this decision. The former batter for the Indian women’s team, who hails from Mumbai, had been out of the national side for the past five years.
She had not been a part of domestic cricket for the same duration either. Furthermore, she never even received an opportunity to play in the WPL.
Achievements to Poonam’s Name
Taking all these factors into account, Poonam has now announced her retirement. Poonam Raut’s career was quite long, and she played numerous matches for India, particularly in the ODI format.
In this format, she achieved several historic milestones, including recording the highest score for India in the 2017 World Cup final. Although the Indian team faced a narrow defeat against England in that match, Poonam was the top scorer, contributing 86 runs.
Furthermore, Poonam holds the record for the highest partnership in women’s ODI cricket. She set this record alongside Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma; the pair forged a 320-run partnership for the first wicket against Ireland in 2017.
This stands not only as the highest partnership in the history of women’s ODI cricket but also as the only instance of a partnership exceeding 300 runs. Poonam contributed 108 runs to this partnership.
A look at Poonam’s career
Poonam made her ODI debut in 2009, the same year she also entered the T20 format. While her T20 career concluded in 2014, that same year marked the beginning of her Test career.
Poonam remained a part of international cricket in both the Test and ODI formats until 2021. In total, she played 4 Test matches, scoring 264 runs, including one century. In 73 ODIs, she amassed 2,299 runs, featuring 3 centuries and 15 half-centuries. Additionally, in 35 T20 matches, she scored 719 runs, supported by 4 half-centuries.
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