Happy Birthday Mithali Raj: 10 Interesting Facts You Should Know About The Batting Superstar

Mithali Raj turns 38 today. The batting superstar has carved a storied international career and continues to be the ambassador of India women cricket for over two decades now.

One of the finest cricketers to have played the game, Mithali is a batting legend.

She made the world sit up and take notice after making a stunning international debut as a teenager back in 1999.

And her feats over the years, naturally, pushed Indian women cricket to neweer heights

Here we take a look at some of the interesting facts from her personal and professional career:-

#Cricket was never Mithali’s first love. Growing up, she learnt Bharatnatyam and to make a career as  a classical dancer. But, as it turned out, destiny had other plans for her.

#Her father was an officer with the Indian air force who waned Mithali to be active and disciplined. And initially, she started playing cricket to make her parents happy.

#She made her ODI debut against Ireland aged just 16 years and 250 days old. And scored a century making her the youngest ever in women cricket to do so. She continues to hold the record.

#She retired from ODIs in 2019 as the most capped (209) player in women cricket history.

#She scored 6,888 runs during her ODI career which is the most in women cricket history.

#214 – Mithali’s highest score in Test cricket. She is the only India women cricketer to have scored a Test double-century. Overall, she is the seventh women to do so.

#In 2017, she recorded seven successive 50-plus scores making her the only women cricketer to do so.

#Mithali is the only India captain (male or female) to have led the team in two different ODI World Cup finals (2005 and 2017).

#In 2003, she was given the Arjuna Award and in 2015, was bestowed with Padma Shri – India’s fourth highest civilian award.

#Mithali is an avid reader. During the 2017 ODI World Cup final, the picture of the then India captain Mithali reading a book before going out to bat against England went viral on the social media.