Mithali Raj scored 7,805 runs in women’s one-day internationals, more than anyone else in the history of the format, and played for India for 23 years. She captained the side in two World Cup finals, made a Test double hundred at 19, and by the time she retired in 2022 had become the highest run-scorer in women’s international cricket.
Name: Mithali Raj | Born: 3 December 1982, Jodhpur, Rajasthan | Sport: Cricket | Position: Right-handed top-order batter, captain
A dancer at the nets
Mithali was born in Jodhpur and grew up in Hyderabad. As a child she trained in Bharatanatyam, the classical dance form, and for a time it competed with cricket for her attention. Cricket won. She played for Andhra and Air India early on and then for Railways from the 2000-01 season until 2021-22, part of the Railways side that dominated the domestic women’s game for two decades. Her batting was built on balance and timing rather than power: a still head, a high elbow and a cover drive that became her trademark.
A hundred on debut and 214 at Taunton
She made her one-day international debut in 1999, aged 16, against Ireland at Milton Keynes, and scored 114 not out. Three years later, on 17 August 2002 against England at Taunton, she made 214 in a Test match. At 19 she had broken Karen Rolton’s record of 209 not out for the highest individual score in women’s Tests. The record stood until Kiran Baluch of Pakistan scored 242 in 2004, but the innings marked Mithali out as a batter of rare concentration.
Captain in two World Cup finals
Mithali was made captain while still in her early twenties and led India to the 2005 World Cup final in South Africa, where they lost to Australia. Twelve years later she took the side to another final, at Lord’s in 2017, which England won by nine runs in front of a full house. That tournament changed the profile of the women’s game in India, with audiences at home following the knockout matches in numbers the players had never known. She remains the only woman to captain India in more than one World Cup final, and during the 2022 tournament she passed Belinda Clark’s record for the most matches as captain at Women’s World Cups.
Under her leadership India also won four consecutive Asia Cup titles between 2005 and 2012, and in 2014 she captained the side to a Test win in England. She was the first player to captain India in the most matches in both one-day internationals and T20 internationals.
The record books
Her one-day numbers are the foundation of her reputation. In 232 ODIs she scored 7,805 runs at an average of 50.68, with seven hundreds and 64 fifties, and she is the only woman to have passed 7,000 runs in the format. She played 109 consecutive ODIs for India, another record, and in 2019 became the first woman to complete 20 years in international cricket. In July 2021 she passed Charlotte Edwards’s tally of 10,273 to become the leading run-scorer in women’s international cricket across all formats.
In T20 internationals she scored 2,364 runs in 89 matches at 37.52, with a highest score of 97 not out. In 12 Tests she made 699 runs at 43.68. The low number of Tests reflects how rarely India’s women played the longest format during her career, rather than any reluctance on her part.
Retirement and after
Mithali announced her retirement from all forms of international cricket on 8 June 2022, a few months after India’s exit from the World Cup in New Zealand. She was still ranked seventh among ODI batters at the time. A biopic, Shabaash Mithu, with Taapsee Pannu in the lead role, was released in July 2022.
Awards
She received the Arjuna Award in 2003, the Padma Shri in 2015 and the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, India’s highest sporting honour, in 2021. Wisden named her its Leading Woman Cricketer in the World for 2017, the year of the Lord’s final.
Career record and honours
- One-day internationals: 232 matches, 7,805 runs, average 50.68, 7 hundreds, 64 fifties, highest score 125 not out
- Tests: 12 matches, 699 runs, average 43.68, 1 hundred, 4 fifties, highest score 214
- T20 internationals: 89 matches, 2,364 runs, average 37.52, 17 fifties, highest score 97 not out
- Most runs in women’s ODI cricket; only woman to pass 7,000 ODI runs
- 114 not out on ODI debut v Ireland, Milton Keynes, 1999
- 214 v England, Taunton, 2002, then the highest score in women’s Tests
- Captain in the 2005 and 2017 World Cup finals; most matches as captain at Women’s World Cups
- Four Asia Cup titles as captain (2005-2012); Test win in England, 2014
- Arjuna Award: 2003; Padma Shri: 2015; Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna: 2021
- Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World: 2017
