The day one of the great cricketers, Mithali Raj, announced her retirement, her father, Dorai Raj was worried about what she would do with the new free time.
“She goes to the ground daily to train. Suddenly after retirement, she won’t be able to sit at home. She has been playing cricket for 23 years. I hope her experience and services are used to take women’s cricket to the next level,” the senior Raj said on Wednesday.
Raj, who has played the role of several coaches, guides, sounding boards and mentors, knows his daughter very well that her thumb is predictable, which will leave the now-retired Mithali uneasy.
Just hours before she named the Indian women’s squad for the T20I and ODI tour of Sri Lanka, Mithali announced her decision to retire via a statement on Twitter.
“I set out as a little girl on the journey to wear the India blues as representing your country is the highest honour. The journey was full of highs and some lows,” Mithali wrote. “Each event taught me something unique, and the last 23 years have been the most fulfilling, challenging & enjoyable years of my life. Like all journeys, this one, too, must end. Today is the day I retire from all forms of International Cricket.”
In her retirement statement, Mithali did talk about wanting to remain connected with the game.
Mithali’s tally of 7,805 runs in 232 ODIs is the highest in a 50-over women’s game. The following best is former England captain Charlotte Edwards with 5,992. Overall, the long-serving India captain scored 10,868 runs, also a women’s cricket record. Her 214 against England at Taunton in 2002 is the second-highest score in women’s Test matches.
Despite living with bad knees, he made his ODI debut against Ireland with an unbeaten 114 and remained a force to be reckoned with for 23 years. In 2009, the injury became so severe that his future was questioned. Nevertheless, Mithali, 39, endured pain and played in six 50-over World Cups, leading the country to two finals in 2005 and 2017.
Her second final as captain ended with heartbreak as the team lost by nine runs against England, but the tight end at Lord’s got everyone talking about women’s cricket and created a buzz around the unit.
