Trailblazing Women

Mithali Raj: Breaking Barriers in Cricket

In a country where cricket is considered as religion and the players are held in high regards, it’s hard to imagine that women’s cricket for so long was largely overlooked. But it’s not the fault of male cricketers that they hogged all the limelight and women cricket was seen as a mere fad. The big reason why women cricket lagged behind men’s cricket was because it lacked a true superstar who could break the barriers. But then came Mithali Raj, a name that changed the course of women’s cricket in India forever. Mithali became a trailblazer, not just for women cricketers but for sportswomen across the nation.

Mithali Raj: How her cricket journey started

Born on December 3, 1982, in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, Mithali Raj’s journey from a young girl to become the Indian captain was no different from a Hollywood script. She was an ordinary child and showed little or no signs of her interest towards any sport, let alone cricket. In fact, and to an extent, she stumbled upon cricket by chance, as if the destiny was playing its game for the young Mithali. She was being trained in Bharatnatyam, a classical dance form, when destiny introduced cricket to her.

Her father Dorai Raj, who was a warrant officer in the Indian Air Force, didn’t want his daughter to sleep till late in the morning. So he made sure that Mithali would accompany her brother Mithun Raj to cricket training at the John’s Cricket Academy, Secunderabad.

Most of the time, Mithali would pass the time watching others practice or by completing her homework. At times, she would pick up a bat and knock the ball around.

And so it happened that a coach at the academy, named Jyothi Prasad, saw her and was impressed by her technique of hitting the ball. The wheels were set in motion. Jyothi Prasad referred Mithali to Sampath Kumar who used to coach two women’s team in Secunderabad.

So, a young girl who had interested towards classical dance, and who was introduced to cricket because here parents didn’t want her to sleep in till late in the morning, changed the face of Indian women cricket forever.

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Practicing with a stump

Every sport star who went on to rule the sporting world was once an ordinary athlete. It was only due to their peculiar methods of crafting their skills that set them apart from the rest. Don Bradman used to practice with a stump and a golf ball, while Novak Djokovic used practice in empty swimming pools. Mithali Raj was no different. Her coach Sampath Kumar forced Mithali to practice in the narrow corridors of her schools. The catch was that she had to bat with a stump and was not allowed to hit the walls with the ball.

“Sir used to hit me with a stick if the ball touched the walls,” Mithali revealed in an interview to Cricket Monthly in September 2016.

Mithali Raj: A Special Talent

Her day used to begin at four in the morning and the practice sessions could stretch beyond six hours on most days. The fact that she also had to balance her studies, taught her to focus on things at present. With increased focus and her ability to maximize efforts to get the most out of the limited time, was what made her one of the most technically gifted Indian women cricketer ever.

Mithali Raj was a special talent, a generational player who caught everyone’s eye. She was only 13 when she was selected for Andra Pradesh cricket team. It didn’t take her long to force her way into India’s women cricket team and at only 16, she made her debut for India.

If there was any doubt about her young age and how she could cope with the challenge of playing at the highest level, Mithali quickly dispelled it with a magnificent century in her first match, hitting an unbeaten 114 against Ireland Women on June 26, 1999.

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Mithali Raj: A Prolific Scorer and a record breaker

Mithali never looked back after hitting an unbeaten century in her debut game. She went on to play 232 ODI matches for Indian women cricket team and racked a record 7805 runs, a record in women’s cricket, at a jaw-dropping average of 50.68. She scored a total of 7 centuries, and 64 half centuries during her ODI career. In addition, Mithali also holds the record of hitting seven consecutive half centuries, a world-record in women’s cricket.

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Mithali Raj was given India’s captaincy in 2005, when she was just 22. She never showed any sign of the job bigger than her, and led India to a world cup final a year later.

The Indian legend led the team to another ODI World Cup final in 2017. It was the day that perhaps brought Indian women cricket into the proper limelight. It was the match that caught the attention of whole India, with millions of fans hooked onto their television. Sadly, India lost the match by nine runs against host nation England Women.

But Mithali still holds the record of the only Indian captain, across men and women, to lead the team to two world cup finals. During the 2017 Women’s world cup, Mithali scored an impressive 409 runs, consisting of three fifties and a century.

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Mithali Raj: Breaking Barriers

Mithali Raj started her cricket journey during the time when there was a clear lack of infrastructure and support for women’s cricket in India. Facilities were limited, matches were scarcely telecast, and sponsorships were hard to come by. Yet, she persevered. Her success brought much-needed attention to these issues, forcing authorities to invest more in women’s cricket.

The Indian women cricket team was governed by Women’s Cricket Association but it merged with the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 2006/07. With the team now operating under the banner of the richest cricket board in the world, facilities improved significantly, and financial support also increased. But it was only in 2016 that female cricketers were given central contracts by the BCCI. It was long overdue, but it changed women’s cricket in India forever.

Now the women’s cricketer are given the same amount of money as the male cricketers.

With BCCI taking care of women cricket in India and developing more facilities, young female cricketers have better access to coaching, infrastructure, and opportunities – something Mithali fought for throughout her career.

Mithali never held back during her interviews. One of the most famous incident came when she was asked who her favorite male cricketer was, to which she retorted, “Do you ask male cricketers who their favorite female cricketer is?”

Impact beyond the field

On June 8, 2022, Mithali Raj announced here retirement from women cricket. Her career was a true testament of how perseverance and true dedication can bring the highest of the success.

Though she has retired, she continues to contribute to the sport she transformed. In November 2024, she joined the Andhra Cricket Association as a consultant and mentor for Women’s Cricket in the states.

A sports biopic was also made on the life of Mithali Raj- Shabaash Mithu. This movie brought limelight on her journey and the challenges faced by her throughout her cricket journey.

The current stars of Indian women cricket team such as Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma, to name a few, grew watching Mithali Raj. Even after retiring she remains a true game-changer and a shining beacon of hope for women in sports and beyond.

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