Names of Dhoni, Sachin, Virat, Kapil are flashed in the mind as soon as the name of cricket comes. When it comes to Women's cricket, despite many names, one name comes first and that name is Mithali Raj. She is the first woman cricketer to have scored more than six thousand runs in ODIs. Mithali Raj, who has been honored with the Padma Shri and Arjuna Award, may be known for her many achievements today, but behind the achievements is her years of struggle.
Mitahli Raj was born on 3 December1982, in the Jodhpur City Of Rajasthan. She belongs to a middle-class South Indian family. She has done her schooling from Keyes High School in Secunderabad and completed her intermediate studies from Kasturba Gandhi Junior College for Women. She used to go to the playground with her brother Mithun when she was six years old. Mithun used to learn cricket. Then coach Jyoti Prasad used to play cricket with little Mithali in his spare time. It was she who recognized the talent of playing cricket in Mithali and advised parents to teach her cricket. She trained under his supervision for six years.
She was taken to new coach Sampat Kumar. This time brought a big change in her life. She practiced on the net with male cricketers. This boosted her confidence. Sampath knew that Mithali would definitely play International cricket one day. She lived up to everyone's hopes and at the age of 10, she was selected in the state's Sub Junior tournament.
At the age of 17, she was selected for the Indian team. She did not even get the basic facilities which a player should get. This was a period when Women's cricket did not come under the BCCI.
Mitahli raj made her debut on 26 June,1999 against Ireland at Milton Keynes and scored unbeaten 114 runs. On 14th January 2002, she made her test debut against South Africa at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. On 5th August 2006, Mithali Raj made her debut in a T20 match against England at Derby.
She made a record of highest run scorer in Women's International Cricket. She is the first women cricketer to score 7 consecutive half-centuries in ODIs. Mithali Raj is the first female cricketer to play 200 ODIs. She is the first woman to win the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the year in 2015.
In 2018, she was involved in a controversy with the cricket management due to her attitude towards the game. Mitali wrote a letter to BCCI in which she talked about the accused Ramesh Powar and BCCI COA member Diana Edulji for not including her in the T20 World Cup and also said that they both are being biased towards her.
Mithali admits that her early career struggles made her mentally strong. These lessons made it easier to face the difficulties in the life ahead. Whether it is the name of the BCCI controversy in 2018 or the time of announcing retirement, Mithali did not allow herself to be weakened. She believes that such struggles have made her able to face difficult times. Today she is the coach of the men's cricket team.
