Mithali Raj: Queen of the willow wallop

Nineteen years after making her debut with an eye-catching 114 n.o. against Ireland, the 35-year-old agrees, as do her peers, that she has several years of the game left in her.

A trained bharatnatyam dancer, a 10-year-old Mithali was enrolled in a summer cricket camp by her father, Dorai Raj, who felt extra exercise never hurt anyone.

The journey has been as much about grit as it has been about talent. The fact that the 2009 Women’s Cricket World Cup was being televised live, and people had started recognising her on the streets, played catalyst in her effort to not let go. 

Till then, it was about scoring runs to please her father. From 2009, everything from her willow was for herself. Today she realises that she is a beacon of hope for a lot of young girls, who want to be part of the big stage. 

“There is no dearth of talent in women’s cricket. But women’s cricket needs to be promoted at school-level. Like any other sport, one needs to groom the right talent at schools. Now, the girls play competitive matches in under-19 or under-23 categories, whereas boys start playing school tournaments in under-14 category,” said Mithali.

The Hyderabadi feels that the seniors’ game needs more promotion. “Women’s game has now got the viewership,” she says. “We just need all our tournaments to be televised more. The last one-day series in South Africa was not shown on television. This is where we lack; we need a proper itinerary of tournaments that needs to be promoted and marketed like the men’s game.” 

Mithali’s presence spreads a confident energy in the team; she seldom gets worked up when things go wrong on the field. 

With a Tendulkar-esque appetite for runs, she has scored 6028 runs from 164 innings — a world record. She has led the team in the World Cups in 2005, 2013 and 2017, the last being the best for the team as losing finalists.

Last month, under her captaincy, the team beat South Africa in their own backyard in the ODIs. “As a captain.” says the 35-year-old, “My role has changed with every team. In 2005, I had all senior players playing under me. In 2005, I just had to ideate the game and the player would deliver. After that, I played with players my age, where my bond with each player was very friendly. But now, I lead a young team and they look up to me, so I have to again change my style of captaincy. I try and connect with every player and tell them that they have good exposure now with physio being provided by the cricket board, so each one of them needs to utilise the facility to hone their skills.”