Mithali's passion for the game has seen her scaling the run-scoring summit

KOCHI: On Wednesday, Mithali Raj joined an elite club of Indian batters-Sunil Gavaskar, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar -- who have scaled the run-scoring summit when she went past English batswoman Charlotte Edwards' record for most runs in women's ODI cricket. During the course of her 69 against Australia in women's World Cup, Mithali also became the first woman to break the 6,000-run barrier in women's ODIs.
It's a journey that started almost two decades ago when a 16-year-old girl packed her cricketing equipment along with her textbooks to Milton Keyes, Ireland, to smash a century on ODI debut. Though she bid goodbye to textbooks soon after completing her degree, Mithali started writing one glorious chapter after another on the cricket field, the most glittering of which came at Bristol on Wednesday.
"The record wasn't playing on my mind. People questioned me a lot about it in press conferences, but it wasn't my intent or purpose of playing this World Cup. But what is important is that I score runs for my team" Mithali said on her achievement.
Much like a Gavaskar or a Tendulkar in the men's game, Mithali has been the backbone of Indian women's batting line-up for close to two decades now. The responsibility has seen her rake up 6,028 runs from 183 matches at an average of 51.52. During the first game of this World Cup, she completed a record of seven half-centuries in a row, a feat unparalleled in women's cricket while only Javed Miandad (9) holds the record in the men's game. "It's not that I have grown up watching cricket on TV. Even now, I seldom watch cricket telecast on television. But I love batting and batting for long hours. I always look for improvements in my game and scoring runs gives me a high," the unassuming Hyderabadi dwells on her run-scoring spree.
But all these runs have not come without sacrifices. Unlike India's male cricketers, most of whom got married during the course of their cricketing career, Mithali remains single. "It's not that I have not thought about marriage. But I was pretty sure that I will continue playing the game after marriage. But I didn't find anyone who could accept my condition. Hence, I decided that marriage can wait until the day I hang up my boots."
At 34, Mithali knows the World Cup in England could well be her last big ICC tournament. Having lost the chance to hold on to the silverware in 2005, where Mithali-led India lost to Australia in the final, she doesn't want to let this opportunity go. "I would be lying to you if I say that I am not dreaming about a World Cup win. We have the team to do it and this team doesn't revolve around the performance of one or two players. But our first target would be to reach semifinals and take it from there," Mithali had said on her World Cup goal.
Though India have stumbled after a bright start to their Women's World Cup campaign, the team has the ability to bounce back. And winning the tournament would be the perfect gift for the yeoman's service Mithali has given to Indian cricket.