Atop Mount 10K, Mithali renews special bond with Lucknow
LUCKNOW : India women’s cricket captain Mithali Raj has a special connection with Lucknow. It is here that she became the first Indian woman cricketer to achieve the milestone of 10,000 international runs in the third one-day international of the current series against South Africa on Friday.
Again, it was in the Uttar Pradesh capital that Mithali made her Test debut against England in January 2002. The debut Test match finished in a draw and did not go too well for her. As a part-time leg spinner, she bowled two overs, conceding seven runs. When her turn to bat came, she was bowled by Dawn Holden for a duck.
Nineteen years on, she joined the elite club of thos w with 10,000 international runs when she scored her 35th run in Friday’s match at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana International Stadium here. She is just behind table topper Charlotte Edwards of England, who was the first overall to complete 10,000 runs in international women’s cricket.
Despite the joy of the milestone, Mithali could not convert a good start into a big score. She lost her momentum and fell into the trap of Anne Bosch, who bowled a low full toss and Mithali chipped it straight to Preez at midwicket.
Mithali is already the top rungetter in the ODI format with over 6,000 runs, including seven centuries. She has scored 2,364 runs in T20Is and 663 runs in Test matches. The 38-year-old had made her ODI debut against Ireland in 1999. Since then, she has never looked back, appearing in over 200 ODIs, 10 Tests and 89 T20I matches.
“When you play for this long, you go through different milestones. This being one of them, the key for me has always been consistency and I have always believed in scoring runs each time I go out to bat, whether it is domestic or international cricket,” said Mithali in the post-match session.
“As long as I get an opportunity to bat, it has to count and that has given me a lot of experience and exposure to work on my game over the years with the changing standards in the women’s game and trying to be relevant in the international circuit,” she said.
“I have not really given much thought to any of these milestones. One milestone which will truly stand out is if we go on to win the World Cup. That will always be very, very special,” she added.
Sachin Tendulkar, the world’s leading run-scorer in men’s cricket, congratulated Mithali Raj.
He tweeted: “Terrific achievement... Keep going strong!”
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer also joined Tendulkar to
wish Mithali on her achievement.
Taking to Twitter, Jaffer wrote: “Many congratulations on reaching 10,000 international runs @M_Raj03. Terrific achievement, a testament to your fitness, skill and dedication towards the game.”
The official Twitter handle of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) called Mithali “champion cricketer”, while sharing the stat.
Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises also congratulated her. “Congratulations to @M_Raj03 for completing 10,000 runs in international women’s cricket. She is the first Indian to cross this milestone!” Mumbai Indians tweeted.
“Making us all proud since 1999! Mithali Raj becomes the first Indian woman batter to cross 10,000 runs in International Cricket,” Kings XI Punjab tweeted.Rajasthan Royals posted a photo of Mithali and wrote: “This is a Mithali Raj appreciation tweet.”
Kolkata Knight Riders wrote: “ODI skipper @mithali breaches another landmark, becoming only the second player, after Charlotte Edwards, to amass 10,000 runs in women’s cricket. What a champion! #Cricket #INDWvSAW.”