Tribute To Mithali Raj - The Lasting Pillar Of Women¡¯s Cricket

For someone who wielded the cricket bat instead of a cooking utensil in an era where women were still essentially considered apt for household chores and were perhaps encouraged to earn degrees only so they could become educated brides (to be), Mithali Raj emerged as a paragon of change in the way we judge our women.

BCCL

She tampered with the seemingly unchangeable, untouchable template with which we viewed women; one that suggested they were perhaps meant for being a support system to men, at best, and if not, then little other than a showpiece in a decked living room consisting of humans with dated theories about what girls could and couldn¡¯t do.

However, no visitation to the shrine of Women¡¯s cricket that Mithali Raj is can be rendered complete without visiting some records that are, quite simply, envy inspiring:

She¡¯s the highest run getter in Women¡¯s ODI cricket with 10,169 white-ball runs.

She¡¯s the highest run scorer across all formats for India.

BCCL

She¡¯s the first woman cricketer to have completed two decades of service to the game.

Forget not that in doing all of that, Mithali fired an equaliser of sorts as well. Perhaps one that should pluck aside involvement of biases and sexism from the cricketing field!

In a sport so utterly dominated by men¡¯s cricket that we tend to take the Women¡¯s game much lightly, as of June 2018, Mithali became the first Indian cricketer - male or female- to cross 2000 T20I runs.

Kohli and Raina, lest it is forgotten, were trailing the figurehead of Women¡¯s cricket in the country at that time.

That Mithali achieved her dazzling feat at 35 also offered glaring evidence of her high standards of fitness and the will to bat on.

An excellent athlete, a committed cricketer, a leader of girls who led by an example and most of all, a sorcerer with the bat utterly content at being understated- Mithali Raj was, is all of this and more.

Reuters

Mithali brought more to cricket than just heaps of runs and sorcery with the bat.

She¡¯s an ideal definition of values some of us perhaps consider dated in today¡¯s fast paced era- discipline, copybook technique and the painfully correct tedium of doing things the right way.

Yet, here was a cricketer, who despite facing the enormity of challenges- forget not she locked horns with some of the greatest in Bates, Devine, Ismail, du Preez, Lanning, Perry, Mir, Asmavia, Taylor- stayed admirably cool.

Plenty of Mithali Raj images will, over a period of time, attain vintage value- such as the hat-wearing batter playing the perfect cover drive or the wearer of the pleasing dimpled smile joining hands in admiration to congratulate Smriti or Harmanpreet for a fine knock.

But only a few, one reckons, will match the grace of India¡¯s captain reading a book on ¡°Life¡¯s Essentials¡±, minutes before walking out to bat in an important ODI World Cup match in 2017.

To many, it would¡¯ve seemed a sign of ignorance since India were playing a heavy opponent- hosts England.

But to Mithali, it was a way of being herself; calm, unflustered and unassuming of what was to come.

She¡¯d go ahead to score a 71 off 73 and her team won by 35 runs.

That, in essence, summed up Mithali Raj: a cricketer eager to confront a cricketing challenge without losing the wits about herself and someone who upheld the dignity of a contest without engaging in shenanigans.

In an age where it¡¯s considered cool to ¡°give it back¡± and resort to retort, Mithali Raj¡¯s greatest contribution to cricket is conduct that can be sighted and emulated even off the field.

Reuters

As low sounding murmurs regarding her slowness in batting transformed into nearly deafening clamour in the past couple of seasons, something amply evident in what became her last ODI World Cup (2022), Mithali Raj, didn¡¯t resort to answering back.

She simply moved on, much like the gentle breeze that exists the scene after whirlwind rainfall.

Because that is what great cricketers do, don¡¯t they; they make space for the young to crop up by stepping away from a podium they¡¯ve so deservingly stood upon for years.

In a country that reserves cultural adoration for the polite and gentle, think Dravid and Sachin, Mithali¡¯s success has more to it than her simple persona and unworried approach to the game.

For someone who batted in the classical mould, that the right hander adapted beautifully to the fast-paced demands of T20I¡¯s, where she averaged 37 (2,364 runs), is worthy of more respect than is afforded.

Forget not that when Rajasthan¡¯s finest export to Women¡¯s cricket could have gone on for 136 more runs to touch the 2,500 run landmark, in a format where there¡¯s limited time to score, Mithali just stopped there, circa June 2019.

To those who¡¯ve questioned and been upset by her continuing for as long as she did, it may never occur that Mithali¡¯s stepping away from T20I¡¯s was also an act of giving space to others.

This is a lot that¡¯ll perhaps never appreciate that Cricket still boasts of the self effacing lot who play for the team¡¯s cause.

AFP

Would Mithali not have desired playing 11 more games to become the first Indian woman cricketer to hit a century of T20I appearances?

But much like Bruce Lee once famously explained, ¡°The word I doesn¡¯t exist, for it stands for ego!¡±

And that the only ¡°I¡± that ever existed for Mithali Raj, stood for India.

The rest, before and after, didn¡¯t simply matter.

Which is why you¡¯re also compelled to think that what must cricketers be truly hailed for- just the runs and records gathered or longevity?

Though, where Mithali is concerned, you¡¯d have to tip the the hat to her for doing what she did by giving 23 years of unfettered commitment to her country.

In an age of instant social media reels; she¡¯s written a lasting essay on consistency. In an age where the prevailing norm is ¡°swag,¡± Mithali epitomised gentility.

For all this and more- massive congratulations to you ma¡¯am.