Hail Mithali Raj: Indian Cricket's Female Sachin Tendulkar

In Indian cricket, the names of Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli rule the roost. However, Indian cricket has been served with distinction for 16 years by Mithali Raj, India's best woman cricketer and on the path of becoming the best ever in Women's cricket. Her exploits have put Women's cricket in India on the map and this list of achievements will make any Indian cricket fan proud.

1) In 2002, she shot into prominence when she smashed 214 against England women in Taunton. It was the highest individual score in Women's cricket and the record stood for two years, until Kiran Baluch of Pakistan smashed 242 against West Indies Women in Karachi in 2004.

TOI Contributor

2) Her exploits in the 2002-03 season gave her the Arjuna Award in 2003.

AFP

3) Mithali went past 5000 runs in Women's cricket when she hit an unbeaten 81 in the ongoing limited overs series against New Zealand Women in Bangalore. She is the first Indian women and second overall, behind England's Charlotte Edwards to go past the landmark.

TOI Bangalore

4) After 167 matches, she has an average of 49.60. This is the best average in ODIs by a woman cricketer.

TOI Contributor

5) Mithali is currently ranked third in the ICC Women's ranking. In 2004, she was the number one cricketer in the world with 839 points, the highest in her career.

Bangalore Mirror

6) She was also the captain of the team in 2006 when India achieved their first Test win and series win against England in England. Her glorious year continued when India won the Asia Cup without losing a single game.

TOI Contributor

All these achievements make her one of the greatest cricketers to don the Indian jersey. Her career is an inspiration for all the women folk not only in India but all over the world. Hail Mithali Raj!

Here are other things you did not know about the Indian Women's team

#The Indian Women's cricket team has dominated the Asia Cup by winning all the four editions from 2004 to 2008. In fact, India have the perfect record in the Asia Cup, winning all 20 out of 20 matches. That IS domination.

#Jhulan Goswami is the first and currently, the only Indian Women cricketer to have won the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year award. She won the award in 2007 when she picked up 22 wickets in the year and also managed to take a five-wicket haul in a Test match against England Women.

BCCL