'One of the main pillars of Women's Cricket' - Cricketing fraternity wishes legendary captain Mithali Raj as she turns 40

One of the pioneers of women’s cricket in India Mithali Raj turned 40 on Saturday, December 3. Meanwhile, it's her first birthday after she hung her boots as an international cricketer - a badge of honour that she had worn for the last 23 years.  

Mithali bid adieu to international cricket on June 8 this year which did not come as a shocker as she had already made up her mind that the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 was going to be her swansong at the highest level.

The Indian team blew hot and cold in the tournament before agonizingly bowing out in a must-win group encounter against South Africa where Deepti Sharma’s no-ball in the final over changed the entire complexion of the game.

Mithali Raj - The pioneer of women's cricket in India

A promising career that started in 1999 saw Raj rise through the ranks as time progressed and she succeeded in establishing herself a batting icon and a great leader.

It was under her leadership that the Indian women’s team made the finals of the 2005 and 2017 editions of the Women’s World Cup. She also went on to lead India in four of their seven Women’s Asia Cup triumphs.

The Jodhpur-born cricketer had announced her retirement from T20Is in 2019 to completely focus on the 2022 Women’s ODI World Cup in New Zealand. Mithali Raj might have retired from international cricket, but has expressed her interest in participating in the inaugural edition of the Women’s IPL that is scheduled to be played in March 2023.

The veteran batter also did well as a commentator in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 down under and now it remains to be seen whether she plans on becoming a full-time broadcaster going forward or not.

Coming back to her illustrious international career, the former India skipper remains the only batter to have amassed over 10,500 runs in women’s cricket. She finished her career with 10,868 international runs. Raj scored 7805 runs in One Day Internationals, 2364 in T20Is, and, 699 in Tests respectively.

As Mithali Raj turned a year older, the members of the cricketing fraternity came forward to wish her a very ‘Happy Birthday.’

 Here are some of the reactions: