Punam Raut announces retirement from international cricket

Punam Raut has announced her retirement from international cricket, ending a career in which she represented India in Tests, one-day internationals and T20 internationals. The decision was announced in an Instagram post, according to reports. One report said it took effect immediately. Raut played for India from 2009 to 2021, making four Test appearances, 73 ODI appearances and 35 T20I appearances. Across those formats, she scored 264 Test runs, 2,299 ODI runs and 719 T20I runs. The career totals reported for each format amount to 3,282 runs. In ODIs, Raut averaged 34.83 and made three centuries and 15 half-centuries. Her highest score was 109. In T20Is, she averaged 27.65, with four half-centuries and a highest score of 75. In Tests, she averaged 44.00 and scored one century, a 130-run innings against England in 2014. Raut’s post reflected on the sacrifices, challenges and victories of her career and on the significance of representing India. She described playing for the country as a privilege and said cricket had given her a sense of purpose, identity and family. She also expressed gratitude to people who supported her during her career. She said her next innings would...