Indian cricketing legend, batter whose exploits broke barriers, leaves the crease after 23 years
NEW DELHI: It was an open secret that it was coming, but it wasn’t until 2.06pm on Wednesday that Mithali Raj made her retirement from all forms of cricket official. Her decision brought the curtain down on a storied career that saw her take Indian women’s cricket from the depths of obscurity to an era where it is starting to regularly challenge for big trophies. It was a career that makes her a legend in her own right, no less in any way than the batting doyens from the men’s team, be it Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid or Sunil Gavaskar.
“I feel now is the perfect time to call curtains on my playing career as the team is in the capable hands of some very talented young players and the future of Indian Cricket is bright,” Raj, 39, said in a statement on Twitter.
Raj burst on to the scene as a 16-year-old on June 26, 1999, when she scored an unbeaten 114 on international debut. It then made her the youngest centurion in women’s cricket across all formats — a record that still stands in ODI cricket.
That was just the beginning. Her consistency and longevity ensured Indian women’s cricket to many meant Mithali Raj. She broke records, established new ones, and found a way to force people to pay attention. At a time when most people didn’t rate the quality of women’s cricket, she kept proving them wrong.
Raj’s overall tally of 10,868 runs makes her the leading runscorer in women’s international cricket, and perhaps, only now, with her walking into the sunset, will many realise what she truly meant to Indian cricket.