When the story of women’s cricket is told, one name towers above all: Mithali Raj. Graceful at the crease, fierce as a leader, and unshakable in her resolve, she transformed not only Indian cricket but the global perception of the women’s game. Records fell, milestones were rewritten, and millions of young girls dared to dream—because Mithali Raj showed them it was possible.
In her own words, there was a time when Mithali was on the verge of calling it quits. Reflecting on the 2009 World Cup in Australia, she admitted, “I remember the 2009 World Cup in Australia. It was the first time that a few matches were televised on a reputed sports channel, and the first time my father saw me play on television.”
It was more than just a tournament—it was a turning point. For the first time, her father could see her artistry on screen. That moment carried a weight she had not expected.
Behind the calm and steely exterior, Raj was wrestling with a difficult reality. Years of injury and the lack of recognition for women’s cricket had drained her spirit. She confessed, “And you know, it’s something I would like to share is that I was planning to quit post that World Cup because there was not much in women’s cricket and I was sort of struggling with an injury since 2005.”
It is hard to imagine that the woman who would go on to redefine Indian cricket almost walked away at the peak of her powers.
But something shifted inside her. Watching the growing interest in the women’s game, she realized her journey was not meant to end there. As she recalled, “And you know, I thought like after the World Cup, you know, say goodbye to the sport, but then I’ve seen how it impacted my family, my father enjoyed watching me play.”
The joy on her father’s face became a symbol of the new respect women’s cricket was slowly earning. That was not all—Mithali noticed a movement building around her. A small but dedicated fanbase had started to form, one that believed in the women cricketers as much as the men.
She explained, “A lot of people were interested in the team and players and were actually watching women’s cricket. We had a few small followers on their own watching women’s cricket so I thought, ‘let me extend a couple of more years’.”
Those “couple of more years” turned into a glittering career spanning two decades, shaping the destiny of Indian cricket.
In 2005, Raj became India’s permanent captain, guiding her side to their first-ever World Cup final the same year in South Africa, where they lost to Australia. Twelve years later, she once again led India to the 2017 World Cup final at Lord’s, where England edged them by just nine runs. By January 2022, she was named captain for her record sixth World Cup appearance—the most by any cricketer in history, male or female.
The 2017 edition in England remains etched in memory—not just for Raj’s 109 against New Zealand or Smriti Mandhana’s fluent 90, but also for Harmanpreet Kaur’s thunderous 171* in the semifinal. Although India fell short in the final, the players were greeted like heroes on their return, and women’s cricket finally claimed the spotlight it deserved.
Raj announced her retirement from all formats of international cricket on June 8th. It marked the end of an era but not the end of her impact. She had carried women’s cricket from obscurity into prime time, from small crowds into packed stadiums, and from near invisibility to mainstream headlines.
Raj’s career was built on numbers that belong to a class of their own. She remains the only female cricketer in history to cross the 7,000-run mark in Women’s One Day Internationals. With 7 centuries and a staggering 64 half-centuries in 232 ODIs, she amassed 7,805 runs—no one else has ever come close. These numbers, however, tell only a fraction of the story.
(Quotes sourced from Star Sports)
