Mithali Raj retires after leading India to their first women's World Cup title
The 43-year-old ends a 23-year career, handing the captaincy to Smriti Mandhana and a younger core that must now defend the title.
Mithali Raj called time on her international career after captaining India to their first women's World Cup in 2025. She finished with 7,805 ODI runs and 2,364 in T20Is across 23 years that began in 1999.
Smriti Mandhana steps up as the senior batter and has been named captain in all three formats. She served as Raj's deputy for several years before the BCCI chose a clean break rather than a gradual handover.
The board is following the same path it took after the men's T20 World Cup win, moving from Suryakumar Yadav to Shreyas Iyer. Raj had offered to stay on in ODIs and Tests to help the next group, but the selectors wanted a full reset.
CricHubb Take
Mandhana now has to balance the weight of defending a World Cup with the reality that the batting line-up around her is still taking shape and the next cycle starts with far less margin for error.