Mithali Raj is the captain of the Indian Women`s cricket team in Tests and One Day International cricket who represents India women`s cricket team. She is a part-time leg break bowler, apart from being a fantastic right hand batter. She is the highest run-scorer in women`s international cricket and the single female cricketer to surpass the 6,000 run mark in One Day International cricket.
Early Life of Mithali Raj
Mithali Raj was born on 3 December, 1982 in a Tamil family. Her father is Dorai Raj, who was an Airman in the Indian Air Force, and her mother is Leela Raj. She started to play cricket at the age of 10 and at the age of 17 she was selected for women`s cricket in India. She lives in Hyderabad, Telangana. She attended Keyes High School for Girls in Secunderabad. After this she attended Kasturba Gandhi Junior College for Women in West Marredpally (Secunderabad) for her intermediate studies.
Career of Mithali Raj
Mithali Raj made her debut in the Test match arena in the year 2001-02 seasons at Lucknow against England. She gained huge popularity for her score of 214 runs in a Test match against England at Taunton, which broke the record for the highest score in women`s Test cricket, until she was surpassed by Kiran Baluch of Pakistan in 2004. She was named in the middle of the probable player in the 1997 Women`s Cricket World Cup when she was just 14. She made her One Day International debut in 1999 against Ireland and scored 114 unbeaten runs.
She led the Indian team to the finals in the 2005 Women`s Cricket World Cup where the team lost to Australia. She is a part-time leg-break bowler as well. She is currently at the top with the batting table of 703 ratings. In February 2017, she became the second player to make 5,500 runs in women`s international crickets. She led the Indian team to the final of the 2017 Women`s Cricket World Cup where the team lost to England by 9 runs. In December 2017, she was named as one of the players in the International Cricket Council Women`s One Day International Team of the Year.
Performances of Mithali Raj
Mithali Raj held the record for the highest individual score by an Indian Woman Cricketer in a World Cup match against New Zealand in Women`s World Cup 2005. In the 2017 Women`s Cricket World Cup, she scored her 7th successive half-century and made a record for most successive 50s by a player. She also holds the record for playing the most consecutive Women`s One Day Internationals for a team.
Centuries of Mithali Raj in One Day Internationals
| Runs | Matches | Opponents |
| 114 Not Out | 1 | Ireland |
| 108 Not Out | 66 | Sri Lanka |
| 109 Not Out | 114 | West Indies |
| 103 Not Out | 145 | Pakistan |
| 104 Not Out | 148 | Sri Lanka |
| 109Not Out | 184 | New Zealand |
Achievements of Mithali Raj
She is a recipient of the Arjuna award for the year 2003.She also received "Padma Shri" award along with the "Youth Sports Icon of Excellence Award" and the title of "BBC 100 Women list 2017".
Personal Life of Mithali Raj
Mithali Raj is a devoted reader and before cricket she was a classical dancer. She learnt Bharatnatyam and wanted to grow up in that field.
