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Image Credit source: BCCI
Whenever we talk about great players in the history of Indian cricket, the names of great players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Virat Kohli come up. All these have popularized cricket in India, but there is one name, which, apart from all these, has brought cricket to a certain section of India and raised hopes. Mithali Raj is the biggest face and name of women's cricket not only in India but all over the world. Former Indian captain Mithali turned 41 on December 3.
Mithali, who gave recognition to women's cricket in India and its most successful player, achieved many great achievements in her 23-year-long cricket career. Mithali held many records and strengthened Indian cricket. At the time Mithali entered international cricket, women cricketers were getting meager facilities. Despite this, she persevered and became a major cause of change with her powerful performance.
How did dancer Mithali become a cricketer?
Whatever Mithali has achieved on the cricket field and thanks to helping women's cricket in India reach its current status, it would not have been possible if she had followed in her mother's footsteps. In fact, Mithali's mother Leela Raj was an accomplished Bharatnatyam dancer. Under his guidance, Mithali also learned this famous Indian classical dance form and devoted much attention to it. Cricket was not even a remote part of his life during this period. Mithali did not even play cricket till the age of 10.
Mithali's mother wanted her to become a Bharatnatyam dancer but Mithali's father Dorai Raj had something else in mind. On his way to office, he used to take Mithali with him to a school coaching camp and it was here that Mithali saw cricket for the first time. She started from this boys camp but gradually made her mark and then became the most successful female batsman in the world.
Success story rewritten
Mithali played her first match for the Indian team in 1999 and continued to play. After 23 years, his cricket journey ended by retiring in 2022. Mithali has played 232 ODIs, 12 Tests and 89 T20Is for India. Mithali has the record of 7805 runs in women's ODIs. Not only in ODIs, Mithali also holds the record of scoring the most runs in all three formats with 10868 runs. Under his captaincy, the Indian team reached the finals in the 2005 and 2017 World Cups.
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