Mithali Raj: The Queen of Records

India has had a tradition of producing some of the finest batters in world cricket, but this tradition isn’t just limited to men’s cricket but extends to the territory of women’s cricket and Mithali Raj the Indian Captain is a prime example of that.

Mithali is already a veteran of the game, and continues to lead India with pride. But that’s not all that defines her, she is a queen of cool, carrying a composed demeanour and a mind clear of all the clutter, yet always with a plan. She has been nicknamed as ‘Sachin Tendulkar’ of the Women’s team and well there are certainly no doubts about it.

But Mithali isn’t Sachin, she is Mithali and she has her own way around things. Mithali chooses to read Rumi, before going to bat instead of anxiously staring at the on-field chaos. And her batting is just like Rumi’s poetry: simple, flawless and deep.?Off the field she is polite, and the aura of humbleness she exudes wouldn’t let you believe that she has a stack of records to her name, but on the field her bat does the talking it can be ferocious and lethal while attacking and when needed it can gracefully stand tall and defend.

To pay a tribute to this mistress of the game, we at Essentially Sports have crunched out some interesting numbers and records from Mithali’s cricketing journey; so here we go:

17 – Age at which Mithali made her international debut, in 1999.

114* – Runs scored my Mithali in her debut match, against Ireland.

214 – Runs scored by Mithali in just her 4th test, against England. It was once the highest individual score by a batswoman in test cricket.

73* – Mithali’s highest score in T20 cricket.

6137 – Total number of runs scored by Mithali in ODI’s. Raj is the only female cricketer to surpass the 6000 run mark in ODI’s.

Mithali Raj is the leading run-scorer in women’s international cricket, across all formats.

7 – Number of consecutive fifties scored by Mithali Raj this year, it is a world record.

52.00 – Her average in ODI’s, it is second only to Australia’s Meg Lanning’ 55+ among the current crop.

49 – The number of fifties scored by Mithali, highest among female cricketers in ODI’s.

55 – Number fifty plus scores, smashed by Raj is the joint highest in Women’s ODI’s

Mithali Raj is the second most capped player in ODI’s

10 – The number of fifty plus totals, scored by Raj in ODI’s this year is a record for most fifty-plus score in a calendar year by a batswoman.

As of now women’s cricket isn’t as popular as men’s cricket, but the day it reaches its peak will we realize that what a gem a stalwart call Mithali Raj was for Indian Cricket.