Harmanpreet Kaur becomes India's leading run-scorer in T20 cricket for women

Indian women’s cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur has become the highest run-scorer for India in T20 Internationals, surpassing the record held by Mithali Raj.

India Women are currently touring Sri Lanka, kicking off their campaign with a three-match T20I series. India won the first two matches, with Harmanpreet Kaur scoring 22 runs in the second match on Saturday, where she reached the milestone.

Harmanpreet Kaur has now scored 2,372 in 123 matches at an average of 26.65. She has one century in the shortest form of the game, the 103 she scored against New Zealand at the 2018 T20 World Cup.

Mithali Raj, who announced her retirement from cricket earlier this month, had scored 2,364 in 96 T20 matches at 37.52. Smriti Mandhana is next on the list with 2,011 runs in 86 matches, averaging 25.78. The trio are the only Indians to have scored more than 2,000 runs in T20Is.

New Zealand’s Suzie Bates is the leading run-scorer in women’s T20 International cricket. She has scored 3,380 runs in 126 matches, at an average of 29.64. West Indian Stafanie Taylor and Australia’s Meg Lanning are the only other batters to have amassed more than 3,000 runs in the shortest format.

The 33-year-old Harmanpreet Kaur, who made her debut in 2009, is seventh in the all-time list of leading run-scorers in women’s T20Is.

India will play the third and final T20I against Sri Lanka on Monday. It will be followed by three One Day Internationals against the island nation early next month before moving to Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games 2022 in July-August.

Women’s T20 International cricket will be played for the first time at the Commonwealth Games.

Sri Lanka will play at Birmingham 2022 as well. They are placed in Group B with England, New Zealand and South Africa.

India, who are yet to announce their cricket squad for CWG 2022, are in Group A with Australia, Barbados and Pakistan.