Published: Jul 14, 2017, 12:06 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 14, 2017, 12:11 PM (IST)
It was a simple back foot-punch — the kind that she has played tens of thousands of times in international cricket, the kind that has become somewhat of a trademark — that brought the Indian team and a large portion of the crowd in Bristol to their feet. When Mithali Raj stroked a short delivery from Ellyse Perry through cover and jogged to the other end to reach 34, a bit of history was made: she became the highest run-scorer in Women’s ODIs beating Charlotte Edwards’ tally of 5,992. A couple of deliveries later, when she danced down the track to smash Kristen Beams over long off for six, she ticked off another milestone — the first woman to score 6,000 runs in ODIs.
For someone like Raj, who has been breaking records ever since her ODI debut in 1999 against Ireland, it is just another landmark in her illustrious career, but for Indian women’s cricket it is of huge significance.
“For Indian cricket, I think there is nothing better to have happened,” former India off-spinner and Raj’s long time friend Nooshin Al Khadeer told CricketCountry. “We now have two people, Jhulan [Goswami] and Mithali, at the top of the lists and that is certainly a cause for celebration. Both of them have served the country for very long and they have always given everything.”
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On July 8, 2017, Mithali Raj was served the first golden duck of her international career when she was bowled by South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk. Raj tentatively pushed forward and covered for the turn, only to see the ball sneak through the gap between her bat and pad and crash into off stump. Van Niekerk did an Imran Tahir, charging around the ground, South Africa were ecstatic, the match was firmly in their grasp.
Over the years Raj has probably gotten accustomed to such wild celebrations. Whether in international or domestic cricket, hers is the wicket opposition bowlers crave. She is the best in the business, so, to dismiss her is almost as good as taking a five-for!
Even as far back as 1999, after Raj had made her ODI debut, her wicket was considered just as important. “The first time I saw Mithali she was playing for Andhra Pradesh Under-19s, and I was leading Karnataka Under-19s,” Al Khadeer reminisces. “We were playing a match in Kerala and I remember getting her out with my first delivery. I was so pumped up that I looked at her and said, ‘get lost’. She later told me she thought I was mad, but honestly, I felt that her wicket was very crucial and that’s why I reacted in such a way.”
While Raj may have been unable to get the better of Al Khadeer’s wily off-spin, she had made an indelible mark on the rival skipper in that tournament: “Even before we played against them I had read and heard a lot about her. I knew she was the youngest to score a century and all that, so even though she didn’t get runs against us it didn’t change my opinion of her,” she explains. “In fact, I watched their next game against Tamil Nadu where I think she scored a century.”
Although they started off in opposition camps, Raj and Al Khadeer soon became fast friends. In an Under-19 Inter-Zonal tournament that year, Raj suffered a blow on her lips for which she needed 14 stitches and it was the Karnataka captain who was with her in the hospital throughout.
“After the injury she still went out the next day and scored a half-century. The commitment and resilience she showed was amazing,” Al Khadeer reminisced.
It may have been the first time she watched Raj battle pain to make a significant contribution with the bat, but it wouldn’t be the last. In only her second year of international cricket, Al Khadeer watched Raj smash a match-winning 46 off 39 balls in a tight chase against New Zealand in Hyderabad in 2003.
“I remember that game clearly. Beating New Zealand, who were World Champions then, was an amazing effort.” says Al Khadeer, the satisfaction evident in her voice. “Mithali played superbly. She had a hairline fracture on her little finger and despite that got the runs for us. It was an outstanding knock. She always had that hunger of wanting to do well and score runs.”
It is that commitment and hunger that has seen Raj knock off various records along her journey to the top of the women’s ODI batting charts. While she might have constantly tinkered with her technique to develop her game, Al Khadeer believes that at heart she has stayed the same.
“She has adapted well to the changing formats of the game, but I feel her concentration level and the fact that she is always composed — all that is the same. She is just as disciplined as she was when she started off playing. She sticks to her routines which are very important. I don’t see any change in her approach and preparation. In fact, I think she has become even more hard working.”
Raj’s discipline and work ethic should come as no surprise considering her “army family” and the grueling practice sessions she underwent during her formative years under the tutelage of Sampath Kumar.
“I think whatever she is today is because of her family,” says Al Khadeer. “Her parents (Dorai and Leela Raj) deserve full marks for all the sacrifices they have made to make sure her cricket never suffered.”
Al Khadeer notes that Sampath Kumar too played a major role in Raj’s rise. “I don’t know exactly how many years she worked with him, but in that short space of time she has reached this level. The foundation was strong, and that’s why she is the leading run-getter now.”
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By 2003, Raj had pretty much established herself as the backbone of the Indian batting line up. While the Indian team boasted of the likes of Anju Jain, Anjum Chopra, Hemlatha Kala and a young Jaya Sharma, if India were to be competitive on the international circuit, it was Raj who was expected to bat through a bulk of the innings.
As the best player in the team, captaincy seemed like a natural progression. In 2005, Raj was handed the reins of the Indian team and the World Cup in South Africa was her first assignment. India went on to reach the final of the tournament and Raj’s reign had begun on a positive note.
“When I had an interaction with her soon after the announcement she told me that she didn’t think captaincy would affect her batting in any way,” says Al Khadeer. “I remember her telling me ‘I am only the captain when I am on the field with the ten girls.’ Everyone was expected to perform, and so Mithali never took the captaincy as extra pressure.
“I would say that Mithali is just made for cricket. Her head is full of cricket and that’s the way she was brought up — always discussing the game and throwing around different ideas. She had the stuff in her, and it definitely helped that she had someone like Anju to support her through the initial phase.”
Al Khadeer, who made her debut under the leadership of Chopra and went on to play under Mamatha Maben, Raj and Goswami as well, believes that Raj’s greatest asset as a leader is her ability to remain calm: “Mithali may not make a show of her emotions on the field, but she is quite aggressive in her own way. Her biggest strength is her ability to stay cool under pressure and find a way to adapt to different conditions. Her captaincy skills have vastly improved from the time she started. She is strategically a lot better now.”
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Not much has changed for Raj since the early days of her career. She is still the lynchpin of the batting unit and is still expected to play the anchor role. Although the team’s consistent performances over the last couple of years have allowed her to open up slightly, when under pressure, the onus is almost always on the Indian captain to drag them out of the deep end.
“When under pressure, India has always fallen back on Mithali,” says Al Khadeer. “When she is out there, you know you are in good hands.”
For the sheer volume of runs she has scored for her country, Raj will definitely go down as one of the greatest women cricketers of all time, but her friend doesn’t think she is finished just yet.
“For Mithali, this [6,000 runs] is probably just another number. She has always told me that she needs to score as many runs as she can for the country,” says Al Khadeer. “I don’t think she will stop just yet. She has said that she feels like she has another 2-3 years of cricket left in her, so I don’t see why 7,000 is not possible.”
