Mithali Raj - A living legend in Women's cricket

When we think about cricket, the first thing came into our minds is none other than Sachin Tendulkar. There are only a few records he couldn't achieve in his long career. He played cricket with passion and through his tremendous batting skills he won a million hearts. Even though he retired from cricket 2 years ago, he is still the reason for people watching cricket.

On Jun 26, 1999, India women played Ireland in an ODI. India won the toss and posted a healthy 258-0 in 50 overs, with the help of twin centuries from openers Reshma Gandhi and Mithali Raj. It was the debut match of both of the batsmen, the former had only represented India in only 2 ODIs, but the latter became one of the finest women's cricketer of all time. If Tendulkar is the reason for people watching men's cricket, Mithali is the reason for women's cricket.

2nd women to amass 5000 ODI runs

Coming to the 4th ODI, New Zealand were leading the ongoing series by 2-1, one win could have gained the series for them, but the Indian captain had other ideas. Indian bowlers had a good day with the ball and they bowled out the Kiwis for 220. While chasing the modest total, Mithali played a gritty knock of 82*(88) and helped India to win the match easily by 8 wickets.

During her innings, Mithali Raj became the first Indian women and second in the world to score 5000 runs, a proud moment for India. A veteran of 157 ODIs, she has scored 5029 runs at a splendid average of 48.82 with five hundreds.

Record breaking 214

In 2002, India went to England for playing a tri-series that also featuring New Zealand. But, unfortunately, India lost the all three games in the series. India thought of regaining the momentum in the Test series, but three days of the first Test were washed out by rain. Then, both teams agreed to play a one-off ODI in the remaining day and England beat India by 6 wickets.

England were flying high after defeating India in both tri-series and in a one-off ODI. On the other hand, India were short on confidence because of the abysmal results.

Indian captain Anjum Chopra won the toss and elected to field. England scored 329 in their first Innings. Neetu David and Jhulan Goswami were the pick of the bowlers, picking up four and three wickets respectively.

In reply, the world witnessed one of the best knocks of history. The 19-year-old from Jodhpur scored an elegant 214 and passed the previous world record of 209* set by Australia's Karen Rolton. The magnificent innings aided India to take a handy lead of 138. Playing his 3rd Test, Raj showed a lot of maturity and showed the world that she was here to stay and conquer.

Padmasree

For her achievements, India government awarded her the Padmasree, one of the prestigious honours of the nation. She said that she wasn't expecting the award. "Honestly when I was pitted against Virat Kohli, I gave up because when you compare us with men’s cricket then we think that we may not get it. So I was not expecting it, but it came as a pleasant surprise," she said.

She believes the honour will bring positivity in Indian women’s cricket. "These awards will really prop up the young girls and players to take up the sport and do much better. With this award probably people will be following women’s cricket keenly and will take a note of the international calendar of women.”

Mithali is only 32 years old and is still going strong. She is expected to become the highest run-getter in ODIs when she hangs up her boots. The career of the legendary woman is clearly an inspiration for enthusiastic young girls who are willing to take up cricket as a profession.