Born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, Mithali Raj has been an integral part of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team. She joined the team in 1999 and made her debut with One Day International. She was the upper Middle-order batswoman and right-arm leg-break bowler. In her career spanning 23 years, she made broke/set world/national records, won many matches and earned quite a few awards to her name.
Mithali Raj’s Retirement
On June 8, Mithali Raj announced her retirement through a post on Instagram and Twitter. Sharing the post, she wrote, “Thank you for all your love & support over the years! I look forward to my 2nd innings with your blessing and support.
I feel now is the perfect time to call curtains on my playing career as the team is in the capable hands of some very talented young players, and the future of Indian Cricket is bright.”
She has played approximately 333 matches for India and has surpassed 10,000 counts for runs.
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Highlights Of Mithali Raj’s Career
Like many cricketers, Mithali Raj also played cricket in three popular formats - One Day, Test and T20. She started her journey in 1999 and led the women’s team for the first World Cup final in South Africa in 2005.
Captained India Twice For World Cup: Raj is the only female cricket captain (inspiring Indian sportswomen) to lead the team for ICC ODI World Cup more than once, in 2005 and again in 2017.
Played 200 ODI Matches: In 2019, she became the first female cricketer to have played in about 200 ODI matches.
Led the team to win the Asia Cup: In 2006, Mithali Raj led the Indian women’s cricket team and won the Asia Cup.
Topped the charts of 2013 Women’s World Cup: In the 2013 Women’s World Cup, Mithali Raj ranked at the top of the ODI chart that listed women cricketers.
Scored 2000 runs in T20Is: In 2018, Mithali Raj became the first Indian cricketer, among male and female (female athletes) players, to have scored 2000 runs in T20Is.
Set a record for 7,000 WODIs runs: She was the second player to score 5,500 runs in the WODIs in February 2017 and the first player to captain the women’s team in most of the T20s and ODIs. In July, she broke her February record to become the first player to score 6,000 runs in WODIs. Her total has crossed the 7,000 mark.
In September 2019, Mithali Raj announced her retirement from T20I cricket. In January 2022, she was named the captain of the leading Indian Women’s Team for the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup, hosted by New Zealand.
Image Courtesy: Mithali Raj/Instagram
Mithali Raj Scored 1000 World Cup Runs
- Mithali Raj is the first Indian woman cricketer to score 1,000 World Cup Runs.
- She is given the title of ‘Lady Tendulkar of Indian Women’s Cricket’ because she has been the all-time leading run-scorer.
- In the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup, she consecutively hit seven half-centuries.
- Raj is also the only one to have played the highest number of Women’s One Day Internationals for the Indian team.
Won Padma Shri And Khel Ratna Award
- In 2015, Mithali Raj received Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award.
- In 2017, she received the Youth Sports Icon of Excellence Award and Vogue Sportsperson of the Year.
- In 2019, Raj received the highest sporting honour in India, Khel Ratna Award.
Celebrities And Cricketers Reacted To Retirement
Reacting to Raj’s retirement post on Instagram, Taapsee Pannu wrote, “Thank you is all we can say for putting women’s cricket on the map for this crazy nation!”
Indian cricketer Sneha Rana wrote on Instagram, “Congratulations di on your beautiful journey…Thank you for inspiring us.”
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Former Indian cricketer Anil Kumble wrote on Twitter, “Congratulations Mithali on a glorious career. You are a role model and an inspiration to many. Wishing you the very best in your second innings.”
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