Vanitha VR retires from all forms of cricket

India Women cricketer Vanitha VR, who played six ODIs and 16 T20Is between 2014 and 2016, has announced her retirement from all forms of cricket.

Taking to Twitter, she shared a message to make the announcement. She also thanked her family, teammates and several coaches and other support staff members who helped her in her career. She wrote:

"And this lovely innings comes to an END!"

In her message, she continued:

"19 years ago when I started playing cricket, I was just a little girl who loved sport. Even to this day, my love for cricket remains the same. What's changing is direction. My heart says continue playing, my body says stop and I've decided to listen to the latter. Time is ripe to hang my boots."

Speaking about her career, she wrote:

"It's been a journey of struggles, joy, heartbreak, learning and personal milestones."

Vanitha made 85 runs in her short stint for India Women in ODIs and accumulated 216 runs in T20Is, where she mainly opened the batting. In domestic cricket, she represented Karnataka and then moved to Bengal.

In the 2021-22 Senior Women's One-Day Trophy, she scored 225 runs, including a knock of 61 against Andhra Pradesh and a magnificent 107* against Hyderabad as Bengal reached the semi-finals.

Mithali Raj will always be my skipper: VR Vanitha

Among the many people Vanitha thanked in her note were her former teammates and veteran India Women stars Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami.

She wrote in her message:

"Dilip Anna. who is more my brother than my own, helping with cricket and life. Gargi Maam for opening new horizons to me, Jhulan for encouraging me from time to time and Mithali, she will always be my skipper!"

She went on to add:

"I look up to her, both on and off the field. Her humility, grace and respect for everyone are life lessons."