Former Indian women's team coach, Tushar Arothe has said that the team will miss Mithali Raj's experience in the T20I format, but players like Jemimah Rodrigues and Smriti Mandhana have the potential to bat the way Mithali did in her T20 career. Mithali, 36, the Indian women's ODI team captain, yesterday announced her retirement from T20 Internationals, a format in which she scored 2364 runs from 89 games with an average of 37.52.

'Team will miss Mithali'

"She is a legend — India's highest run getter in T20 Internationals. The team will definitely miss a player like Mithali in T20 cricket," Arothe told mid-day from California where he is coaching. Arothe was coach when the Mithali-led Indian team lost the ODI World Cup final to England at Lord's in 2017. "She is very dedicated and disciplined in all three formats. Her retirement from the T20 format will provide an opportunity to youngsters. Jemimah is doing a wonderful job and she is batting like a champion at the moment. Smriti too is performing very well. Both these players have age on their side and can perform the way Mithali did throughout her career," said Arothe.