She had represented India in six ODIs and 16 T20Is between 2014 and 2016.
Indian Women’s team batter VR Vanitha on Monday announced her decision to retire from all forms of cricket at the age of 31. She mentioned that her retirement would take effect immediately and communicated her decision to the fans via a post on Twitter.
She expressed her gratitude to her family and also to her teammates, including the likes of captain Mithali Raj, and veteran bowler Jhulan Goswami, who have both been an integral part of her career over the past decade.
Having represented both Bengal and Karnataka in the domestic circuit, Vanitha thanked both state cricket associations in her announcement. She played for the national team between 2014 and 2016 but could not cement her position in the side.
Her retirement did come as quite a surprise, considering her relatively young age and the fact that she has been in good form recently. There have been some speculations that the batter might be looking to represent a different country post her retirement for India, but she has said nothing of the sort in her official message. However, Vanitha has claimed that she dedicate herself to “grooming young talents in Cricket.”
“The next chapter of my life I would like to dedicate to grooming young talents in cricket. This is not the end but the beginning of a new challenge.”
she said in her farewell message.
Vanitha got off to good starts on a regular basis but was unable to convert her starts into the big knocks, which eventually cost her her place in the Indian squad. Vanitha typically played as an opener in the shortest format and batted in the middle-order in the ODIs.
She has five scores in excess of 25 in WT20Is, but never really took it forward, with her highest score in T20Is being 41. As a result, her T20I and ODI averages stand at a not too exciting 17.00 and 14.40, respectively.
Vanitha was in fine form in the recent domestic games for Bengal, scoring 225 runs in the Women’s Senior One Day Trophy, including a 71-ball 107, as her side reached the semifinals.
