Dubai: For Mithali Raj, the talismanic captain of Indian women’s team, there must have been several defining moments in the last ICC Women’s World Cup. If becoming the first woman to cross the 6000-run mark in One Day Internationals is a memorable one, the one that will continue to haunt her will be the agonising nine-run loss to England in the final.
What has also stayed with us was her repartee to a journalist ahead of their opening match against England. To an almost regular question as to who her favourite men’s cricketer was between India and Pakistan, Mithali famously shot back if the journalist would ever ask the men’s counterpart about who would be his women’s cricketer of choice.
An off-the-cough remark, which became viral on social media, worked rather effectively against sexism in sport and for women in general than any form of activism would do. Mithali, however, was characteristically modest about it during a chat earlier this week.
“Honestly speaking, it was not something I did consciously from my position as the Indian captain. I like to speak my mind and I said that on the spur of the moment — but I was surprised to see the kind of impact it made on social media,” she said.
Chasing her down for a telephonic interview wasn’t easy, for life had been hectic for the Woman in Blue since they returned to India to an overwhelming welcome in end-July after finishing runners-up in the World Cup. The spate of receptions, clamour for interviews and endorsement offers would have matched their men’s counterparts for a change, but the ‘Captain Cool’ of the women’s game has not lost her sense of perspective.
How has the life changed for her in the past one and-a-half months?
“Well, I now get pretty much recognised wherever I have gone. They can now put a face to the name while before, they possibly knew about my achievements but did not see me or the girls that much on TV.
“Several endorsements have also come my way along with some of the girls. Yes, it was busy and hectic times,” the 34-year-old told Gulf News.
Even though it’s the second occasion after 2005 when a much younger Mithali had led India to the World Cup final, the regular broadcast and social media explosion has made her girls — the Harmandeep Kaurs and Smriti Mandhanas almost household names this time around.
Asked how the girls have coped with such new-found adulation, Mithali said: “Fortunately, there is no cricket scheduled till December but the girls will get back to training by October. It’s going to be a busy year for us with international cricket and then the Twenty20 World Cup next year — it will be back to business soon.”
Now that the dust has settled down a bit, the seasoned pro in Mithali is concerned on how to maintain the momentum for women’s cricket created in India in the wake of their stirring show in England. “It’s time that we need to move on from the World Cup experience. While the onus is on our team to maintain this consistency, we need to have telecast of the major domestic matches and international fixtures going. It’s important because there is enough cricket coming up for us with the tour of South Africa, Australia coming down and the World T20,” she said.
While Mithali was pragmatic enough to announce after the Lord’s final that it would be last 50-overs showpiece (along with Jhulan Goswami, her peer who is now the highest wicket-taker in ODI history), she wants to have a full tilt at the World T20 title next year so that she can sign off with a World Cup medal on her shelves.
Looking ahead, does she feel that the team has enough ammunition in the tank for a go at the T20 crown in West Indies in November next year? “T20 is an area where we need to improve,” Mithali says, before adding: “ Last time in 2014, we didn’t do well at all but now the expectations will be more. We need to at least make the semi-finals and take it from there.”
As a leading performer of the game for close to two decades now, Mithali had always been a champion of the cause of women’s cricket — being vociferous about the need of a proper calendar for the game as the matches are too few and far between and telecast of matches.
Asked if it hurts her that all the adulation has come rather late in the career, Mithali said: “See, I have never looked at it that way.
Things have improved somewhat once the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) came into the picture in 2007 … had I broken the world record in 2002 under them (her 214 against England was the highest individual Test score then), it would have been better. However, BCCI still needs to do better in terms of telecasting the game.”
It’s been one long journey for Mithali, who made her international debut as a gangly 17-year-old from Hyderabad in 1999. The chore of a daily athlete’s routine, day in and day out, is not easy on the body when one can take the softer option of ‘settling down’ after a long and illustrious career.
Not however, if you are a Mithali Raj. “Well, playing for India still drives me — nothing comes closer to that. The ratio of matches have also increased from the past and you have to keep yourself ready for it. We also need to aspire for greater fitness levels with so many T20 matches around.
“I want to carry on playing as long as I am fit … want to score runs and carry the team along,” she signed off — the sense of purpose in her voice hard to miss!
