Former India women’s captain Mithali Raj was bestowed a rare honour on July 13, 2025, as she rang the iconic five-minute bell to signal the start of Day 4 of the India vs England third Test at Lord’s. She joined the elite Indian legends in the tradition as India and England battle for series lead at 1-1.
The five-minute bell is traditionally rung five minutes before a session begins at Lord’s, underlining the stadium’s storied cricketing traditions. Raj joins an elite list of Indian cricket legends who have received this honour, including stalwarts such as Sachin Tendulkar (Day 1) and Cheteshwar Pujara (Day 2) during this same match.
Mithali reflected that while the heartbreak of the 2017 ODI World Cup final loss to England at Lord’s still lingered, so too did the memory of her first visit to the ground in 1999, when she first dreamt of playing there. Mithali has played 3 matches in Lord’s accumulating 170 runs with highest of unbeaten 94* against England at the destination.
Speaking about that moment, Mithali expressed deep gratitude, “I think it’s a special occasion for me because this ground has a lot of history, and I do remember my first tour in 1999, my debut tour to England, and I came to Lord’s as a tourist. I took some pictures here, wondering if I would ever get an opportunity to play at Lord’s, and I did. I probably would have played about 3 or 4 games at Lord’s, and one of those remains still in my memory, the 2017 ODI World Cup Final.”
Raj, widely regarded as India’s greatest female batter, has amassed an illustrious career spanning over two decades, filled with milestones. She holds the record for the most runs in women’s international cricket and is the only Indian captain, across both men’s and women’s teams to lead the country to two 50-over World Cup finals.
The only accolade missing from her remarkable journey is a World Cup title. In pursuit of that elusive dream, Raj retired from T20Is in September 2019 as India’s highest run-scorer in the format, having last captained the side during the 2016 T20 World Cup at home.
Renowned for her technical precision and temperament, Mithali Raj anchored India’s batting order across all three formats for over two decades. Her ability to build innings was evident in her record-breaking 214 in a Test match in 2002 and her unbeaten 91* in the 2005 ODI World Cup semi-final a knock she considers equal in stature to her double-century.
The 2017 World Cup was a landmark tournament for Raj. She overtook England’s Charlotte Edwards as the highest scorer in women’s ODIs and became the first woman to breach the 6000-run mark. Her 409 runs- second only to Beaumont’s tally included three half-centuries and a century that powered India to a memorable final.
She emphasised that this moment symbolised more than personal recognition. She saw it as an acknowledgment by MCC and Lords of the growing impact of women’s cricket. The honour linked her legacy to the broader history of the sport alongside male legends like Dravid, Gavaskar, Ganguly, and Kapil Dev, who have all rung the bell in past Tests.
Mithali Raj ringing the Lord’s bell was more than ceremonial, it was historic. It blended pioneer spirit with deep reverence for the game’s roots and signaled how women’s cricket is earning its rightful place on cricket’s greatest stages.
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