Mithali Raj facts for kids
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Mithali during receiving Padma Shri Award in 2015
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name |
Mithali Raj
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| Born | 3 December 1982 Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India |
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| Height | 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm leg break | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Top-order batter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| Test debut (cap 56) | 14 January 2002 v England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 30 September 2021 v Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 56) | 26 June 1999 v Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 27 March 2022 v South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI shirt no. | 03 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I debut (cap 9) | 5 August 2006 v England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last T20I | 9 March 2019 v England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996/97–1998/99 | Andhra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999/00 | Air India | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000/01–2021/22 | Railways | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Supernovas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2022 | Velocity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: ESPNcricinfo, 27 March 2022
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Mithali Raj (born 3 December 1982) is a famous Indian former cricket player. She led the national team as captain from 2004 to 2022. Many consider her one of the greatest female cricketers ever. She holds the record for scoring the most runs in women's international cricket.
Mithali Raj has received many important awards. These include the Arjuna Award in 2003 and the Padma Shri in 2015. In 2017, she was named the Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer. She also received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2021.
She holds several amazing records in international cricket. Mithali is the only female cricketer to score over 7,000 runs in Women's One Day International (WODI) matches. She was also the first player to score seven half-centuries in a row in ODIs. She has the most half-centuries in WODIs.
In 2005, Mithali became the permanent captain of the Indian team. She is the only female player to lead India in more than one ICC ODI World Cup final. She captained the team in both the 2005 and 2017 finals.
In June 2018, she became the first Indian player to score 2,000 runs in T20Is. She was also the first female cricketer worldwide to reach this milestone in WT20I matches.
On 1 February 2019, Mithali Raj became the first woman to play in 200 ODI matches. In September 2019, she stopped playing T20Is to focus on ODI cricket. She also became the first woman to play international cricket for 20 years.
In July 2021, Mithali broke Charlotte Edwards's record. She became the player with the most runs in all women's international cricket. On 8 June 2022, she announced her retirement from all forms of international cricket.
Contents
Early Life and Cricket Start
Mithali Raj was born on 3 December 1982, in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Her family speaks Tamil. Her mother is Leela Raj, and her father, Dorai Raj, worked in the Indian Air Force. She lives in Hyderabad, Telangana.
Mithali started playing cricket when she was ten years old. She went to Keyes High School for Girls in Hyderabad. She also attended Kasturba Gandhi Junior College for Women in Secunderabad. She received cricket coaching with her older brother when she was in elementary school.
Playing for Teams
Mithali Raj played for Air India with other famous cricketers. These included Purnima Rau, Anjum Chopra, and Anju Jain. Later, she joined Railways for the domestic championship. She also played for the Supernovas and Velocity. These teams are part of the Women's T20 Challenge.
International Cricket Journey
Mithali Raj played in all three types of international cricket for India. These are Test, ODI, and T20 matches. When she was fourteen, she was considered for the 1997 Women's Cricket World Cup. However, she did not make it into the final team.
Debut Matches
She played her first ODI match in 1999 against Ireland. This game was in Milton Keynes, UK. She scored an amazing 114 runs and was not out. She made her Test debut in the 2001–02 season. This match was against South Africa in Lucknow, India.
Breaking Records
On 17 August 2002, when she was 19, Mithali broke a world record. She scored 214 runs against England in a Test match. This was the highest individual Test score at that time. The record was later broken by Kiran Baluch of Pakistan in 2004.
Leading India to Finals
In 2005, Mithali led India to their first-ever final in the 2005 Women's Cricket World Cup. They lost to Australia in that match. In August 2006, she led her team to their first Test series win in England. She also successfully defended the Asia Cup that year.
More Achievements
Mithali Raj received the 2003 Arjuna award for her sporting excellence. In February 2017, she became the second player to score 5,500 runs in ODIs. She is also the first player to captain India in the most ODI and T20I matches.
In July 2017, she became the first player to score 6,000 runs in WODIs. She led the Indian team to the final of the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup. The team lost to England by nine runs in a close match. In December 2017, she was chosen for the ICC Women's ODI Team of the Year.
In October 2018, she was part of India's team for the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournament. Mithali retired from T20I cricket in September 2019. She wanted to focus on preparing for the 2021 one-day World Cup.
In November 2020, Mithali Raj was nominated for top awards. These included the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade. She was also nominated for the women's ODI cricketer of the decade award.
In May 2021, she was named captain of India's Test squad. This was for a special one-off match against the England women's cricket team. In January 2022, she was named captain for the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.
On 8 June 2022, Mithali Raj announced her retirement from all forms of International cricket.
Coaching Role
Mithali Raj also worked as a batting consultant for the India women's national cricket team. She has also played as a player-coach.
Key Records and Milestones
- Mithali Raj is sometimes called "Lady Tendulkar of Indian Women's cricket." This is because she is India's all-time leading run-scorer in all cricket formats. This includes Tests, ODIs, and T20Is.
- During the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup, Mithali scored her seventh half-century in a row. This set a new record for most consecutive fifties by a player.
- She is the first Indian and fifth woman cricketer overall to score over 1,000 runs in World Cup matches.
- She holds the record for playing the most consecutive Women's One Day Internationals for a team (109 matches).
Mithali Raj had some disagreements with cricket management in 2018. This was during the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20. She felt she was treated unfairly by the coach and a team official. She believed she was left out of the T20 World Cup semifinals unfairly. The coach, Ramesh Powar, also shared his views. He said Mithali sometimes threatened to retire if she didn't get her way. He also mentioned that she focused on her own scores more than team plans.
Her relationship with the T20 team's captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, was also difficult for a while. However, after Ramesh Powar became Head Coach again in May 2021, they resolved their differences. Both Mithali and Harmanpreet have confirmed in interviews that they are now on good terms.
Awards and Honors
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| Year | Award | Notes |
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| 2003 | Arjuna Award | India's Second Highest Sporting Honor |
| 2015 | Padma Shri | India's Fourth Highest Civilian Award |
| 2017 | Youth Sports Icon of Excellence Award | At the Radiant Wellness Conclave, Chennai |
| 2017 | Vogue Sportsperson of the Year | At Vogue's 10th anniversary |
| 2017 | BBC 100 Women | |
| 2017 | Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World | |
| 2021 | Khel Ratna Award | India's Highest Sporting Honor |
Beyond Cricket
Personal Life
Mithali Raj is also a trained Bharatanatyam dancer.
In Popular Culture
After the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup, a movie company decided to make a film about Mithali Raj's life. She hoped the movie would inspire more young girls to play sports.
The movie, titled Shabaash Mithu, was released on 15 July 2022. Taapsee Pannu played the role of Mithali Raj. The film did not earn much money at the box office.
