MITHALI RAJ: The Most Celebrated Female Cricketer Of India
The country has been grasped by the cricketing fever since the time that Kapil Dev and his companions won the World Cup in 1983. In any case, while we circled commending Sachin or Kohli, speak ceaselessly about their match winning knocks; lets take a breathe out to Mithali Raj who is most celebrated female cricketer of India in the recent past. Being a female Indian cricketer, very few get the acclaim and fame that Mithali has accomplished. With no bungle or confusion about who is the most praised lady cricketer for recent year, one could, without much of a stretch, recollect Mithali’s name. Her impact on the game is enormous.
She was the Arjun awardee in 2003 and was recently honored with Padma Shri this year. Mithali Raj is the present captain of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team and held number one spot at the Women’s World Cup, 2013. Mithali is a middle order batsman and averages above 65 in test cricket and above 40 in one day cricket. Notwithstanding her capacity with the bat, Mithali dishes leg-spinners and gives variety to the bowling attack. Born on December 3, 1982 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, Mithali began to play cricket at the age of 10 and at the age of 17 she was chosen for Indian Women Cricket Team. She had a golden debut at Milton Keynes in the year 1999 wherein she scored a convincing 114* while opening the inning for the team. Resultantly, India went ahead to win that match easily. Her name was once connected with the highest individual score in Women’s Test Cricket. At that time, the 21 year old Mithali has sowed the seeds of self-conviction among all the Indian sportswomen. Taking a dig at her captaincy, the team was successful to make it to the final of the 2005 World Cup. The team eventually lost the final to the formidable Australian team, but the team’s performance and Mithali’s capability was praised by one and all. Later, Mithali’s skill as a captain played a vital role in India’s first test triumph in England, when the team, as group, and led by an exceptional captain showed great commitment on the field to defeat the rival team by five wickets. Mithali, alongside Chopra guided India to the triumph. This was also India’s second series win on foreign soil; first being against South Africa in 2002. In 2008, she led the team to its fourth back to back Asia Cup triumph. Notwithstanding, the team went through a rough patch and consequently failed to perform well in the 2013 World Cup. The only main reassurance was that Mithali was positioned number one batswoman in the World, preceding the ICC Women’s World Cup 2013. In July 2015, she made her presence felt again when she became the first Indian and second in the history of Women’s ODI cricket to score 5000 runs or more only after England’s Charlotte Edwards.
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