As the captain of India in both the 2005- and 2017-Women’s World Cup finals, Mithali was a pioneer in the field of women's cricket. On Wednesday, June 8, 2022, former Indian captain and famous batter Mithali Raj announced the end of her brilliant cricketing career. Let us look at the record-breaking moments by Mithali Raj.
1. Top Run-Getter In International Cricket
In July 2021, Mithali Raj surpassed England's Charlotte Edwards to take the top spot among women's international run scorers (10,273 runs). The only two female cricketers to surpass the 10,000-run mark are Edwards and Raj. As a batter and captain, she ends her career having set and broken numerous records.
2. Second Youngest Centurion
In 1999, she made her ODI debut within a century. She achieved the youngest centurion in women's internationals at the age of 16 years and 205 days. Only 22 years later, in 2021, was the record broken when Amy Hunter of Ireland accomplished that accomplishment on her 16th birthday. Without a question, Mithali is still among the best female cricketers to ever compete.
3. Most Matches
Raj is one of just two players with more than 200 ODI appearances (the other being longtime teammate Jhulan Goswami). Raj has participated in 232 ODIs, the most. Only Pakistan's great Javed Miandad and India icon Sachin Tendulkar have played if she has. The former India captain has several amazing records.
4. Most Fifties
Raj has 17 fifty-plus T20I scores and 71 fifty-plus ODI scores. She has the most fifty-plus scores overall in women's international cricket, with a total of 88. In the history of women's international cricket, she is one of the best players ever.
5. Playing Most ODI World Cup
In her final ODI World Cup early this year, Mithali completed her career as the only female cricketer to have participated in as many as six of them. She participated in five additional competitions after making her debut in the main event in 1999. In 2005 and 2017, she captained India to victory. Despite being reliant on the bat, she was unfortunate enough to never take home the trophy. She finished as the tournament's second-highest run scorer with 1,321 runs, two hundred, and 11 fifties (most by any).
6. Best In Test
She is the only female Indian with a double century in Test cricket. She achieved the second-highest individual score in women's Tests with a score of 214 (against England in 2002). Throughout her 12 games, she ran for 699 runs. She currently holds the second-highest individual red-ball score (214). At Taunton in 2002, Mithali struck a superb double century against the England ladies. She also became the first and only Indian woman cricketer to reach 200 runs in whites thanks to her double tonne.
7. Longest Career
Raj, who made her international debut in 1999 at the age of 16, has also had the longest career in women's cricket. It went on for more than 23 years. The 50-over format belonged to Mithali. She finished her career as the ODI player with the most appearances in women's cricket. She competed in 232 games for India.
8. Most Wins As Captain
Raj leads all players in women's ODI victories with 89 victories from 155 games captained. She has captained her team in the most women's ODI games, with 155. She led India twice, in 2005 and 2017, in the ICC ODI World Cup finals, making history as the only female player to do so.
9. Conquering England
When Raj guided India to their first Test series victory against England in 2014, she made history. Raj led the squad to victory in England by scoring an undefeated 50 in the second innings. She guided the team to their first-ever Test and series victory in England in August 2006, and she successfully defended the Asia Cup that year without dropping a single match.
10. Leading ODI Run-Scorer In Women’s Cricket
Raj leads all women's ODI scorers with 7805 runs in 232 games. Edwards, who comes in second, is nearly 1813 runs back. Only Raj has an average of over 50 among the top seven players. She leads India in women's T20I runs with a total of 2364.
