Ahead of Taapsee Pannu’s Shabaash Mithu, revisiting the incredible story of former Indian captain Mithali Raj

As we get ready for the release of Taapsee Pannu-starrer sports biopic Shabaash Mithu, here’s a quick recap of the incredible real-life story of Mithali Raj.

While many might know of Mithali Raj, a good section of people might not be familiar with her achievements and how did she get into the game of cricket. Even as Taapsee Pannu’s film Shabaash Mithu promises to take us on Mithali’s journey to sports stardom, here’s a quick recap of Mithali’s beginnings and her over glorious career in international cricket.

Born in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur in a Tamil family on December 3, 1982, Mithali herself never had any aspirations to become an international cricketer of repute. But thanks to her father Dorai Raj, an Air Force officer, Mithali began playing cricket from the tender age of 10.

“It (cricket) was not a part of my vision. It was dad’s decision. Mom wanted me to be a dancer, she wanted me to be a Bharatnatyam dancer, and I enjoyed dancing. Plus, nobody played sports in my family, so for my grandparents to accept that their granddaughter would go and practise with boys and be gone from home from morning till late in the evening, was something,” Mithali had said in a 2018 interview with cricket commentator Gaurav Kapur.

Mithali had no desire to be a sportsperson. In fact, in the same interview she mentioned how while leaving home at 5 am, she would look longingly at her grandparents’ bed, who would be peacefully sleeping at the time, all wrapped up in blankets. Mithali, in biting cold, would wake up at 4 am and go to her coach Sampath Kumar for training. She has recounted that both her father and coach were strict teachers and Kumar especially wanted Mithali to reach the ground before the sunrise to get those extra minutes at the net. It was at the ground that she would consume her breakfast and change and rush for school. Post school, she would again train with Sampath Kumar at Secunderabad, before winding up at home to get some school work done. Everything had to be done by 8 pm, post which the lights would be switched off for another gruelling day at school and the training ground.

Mithali Raj played for the Railways in domestic cricket, and then went on to share the dressing room with stars of the game like Anjum Chopra and Anju Jain while playing for Air India. Mithali finally got a chance to debut in the ODI cricket in June, 1999 when she was only 16! And thanks to her years of training and coaching, Mithali shone like a star in her first international match against Ireland, where she scored an impressive 114 runs.

Mithali made her test debut a couple of years later in 2002 against South Africa. At 19, she became the world’s highest Test scorer with a whopping 209 runs. She later broke her own record in a Test match against England by whipping up a tremendous score of 214 runs.

After recovering from a bout of Typhoid, Mithali delivered again when she won the team its Asia Cup in 2006. Finally, after her long list of achievements, Mithali added another feather to her cap in 2013 by becoming the number one cricketer in Women’s World Cup.

Mithali has played 12 Tests, 232 ODIS and 89 T20s for India in her 23-year long career. She holds the record of scoring the maximum runs — 7, 805 runs in ODI. She has scored seven centuries and 64 fifties in her ODI career. In terms of longevity, she has had a longer career than Sachin Tendulkar, but only marginally. While Sachin played for 22 years and 91 days, Mithali donned the blue jersey for 22 years and 274 days.

For her unparalleled contribution to sports, Mithali Raj has been honoured with a Padma Shri, the Arjuna Award and the Khel Ratna Award.

News Source:- The Indian EXPRESS