"She crossed and abused" - Mithali Raj reveals shocking incident involving Pakistani player during T20 World Cup

Former Indian women's team captain Mithali Raj revealed a shocking incident where a Pakistani player abused her during a T20 World Cup match. The two teams share an intense rivalry in the women's game as well.

Mithali Raj recalled that while she was batting, a Pakistani player crossed between overs and verbally abused her. She added that the player abused her again when on the boundary line while she was walking back after being dismissed.

"I think it was a T20 World Cup match and we were playing Pakistan. Someone was batting with me and a Pakistani player, she crossed and abused. It was the first time I experienced someone abusing me on the ground. I lost my focus a bit. I did not do anything and why was I abused. After I got out I was crossing, it was the same fielder, I was going back and she told something again," she said in an interview with The Lallantop. (27:52)

She added that she complained about the incident to her team manager. The unnamed Pakistani player also hit Mithali's hand during the handshake after the game. Following the same, the Indian team manager also spoke to the Pakistani player about her actions.

Mithali Raj further stated that they took the incident to the match referee after the game. She revealed that the Pakistan management accepted the fault of the player, who later also apologized for her behavior.

"We went to the match referee. He told this is always going to be a high voltage game so you shouldn't make it big. I told that's fine as long as it comes to the notice of their management. Their management were gracious enough to accept and then she did come and apologize. When you are competitive, it is fine, but I am not someone who would appreciate verbal abuse while playing." (30:44)

Mithali represented India in 12 Tests, 232 ODIs, and 89 T20Is. She scored 699 runs in Tests at an average of 43.68 with a century. The right-hander amassed 7805 runs in ODIs at an average of 50.68 with seven hundreds. In the shortest format, she scored 2364 runs with 17 fifties.

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Mithali Raj's record in Women's T20 World Cups

Mithali Raj is among India's top women's cricketers of all time. She had an impressive record when it came to the Women's T20 World Cups as well. The right-hander played several editions from 2009 to 2018.

Until 2024, she was the highest run-getter for India in Women's T20 World Cups. Mithali Raj scored 726 runs from 24 matches at an average of 40.33 with five half-centuries. It was only in the 2024 edition that Harmanpreet Kaur overtook Mithali to break the record.

Mithali's top score in T20 World Cups is 57. She played the knock against England during the 2014 edition. As far as captaincy is concerned, she led India in 13 Women's T20 World Cup matches from 2012 to 2016. Under her leadership, India won five matches and faced eight defeats.