The Legend: Mithali Dorai Raj

Spread the love

The former captain of the India women’s ODI & Test team, Mithali Raj went candid in an exclusive conversation with WomenShine, shedding light on her retirement, recognition of women’s cricket, and what drew her to take up cricket as a career option.

WS: Growing up, what women in sports did you look up to?

MR: Growing up, I honestly did not have many women in sports to look up to. There were hardly any women’s matches televised. There was of course PT Usha Ji but she was not from cricket. Then there was Sachin, whose conduct on and off the field inspired me a lot.

WS: What is your favorite memory associated with cricket?

MR:  My favorite memory associated with cricket is both the 2005 World Cup final and 2017 World Cup final playing in a packed Lords stadium. The first one was in which I was a rookie captain leading all the seniors and the second one in which I was the senior with all juniors. Then the 2014 test win in England where we beat England with 9 debutant players in our team.

WS: What do you think is the biggest barrier in driving the visibility of women’s sports?

MR: The perspective although changing is still a work in progress. They never look at women’s sports independently but always draw comparisons with men’s sports.

WS: How do you think male athletes can help to drive more visibility towards women’s sports?

MR: I don’t think that’s required anymore. If you look at the recently concluded Olympics also women’s athletics have done quite well. PV Sindhu was leading the contingent at the Olympics.

PV Sindhu, Manika Batra,  Saina Mirza, Vinesh Phogat, etc don’t need men to aid in their promotion. Even in Women’s Cricket earlier the T/20 World Cup used to happen side by side with men but not anymore. Now Women’s Cricket has standalone World cups and garners huge crowds and viewership.
This year IPL challenger had its sponsor. Also in the end Women’s sport, Women’s cricket all have to create revenue and be marketed well in their stead ( which is what the trend is also ) to move ahead. As this is already happening which is why the BCCI is considering having the IPL next year.

WS: What advice would you give to a young girl who is just starting in sports?

MR: The advice I would give to young girls is to stay true to the sport. Be disciplined. It’s very easy to get swayed in this world of social media etc. while that is important for your profile but at the end of the day, it is the sport only that will give you everything in abundance.

WS: Where do you see women in cricket 10 years from now?

MR: Women’s Cricket is only going to rise and rise from here. I want to see India win a World Cup and I think India will be in the position that the Australian women’s team is in – the top. The IPL will become a talent pool for the national team like it is for men.

WS: We all have seen Shabaash Mitthu, the movie beautifully represents your journey right from the beginning and gives a peek into your struggles in this male-dominated-sports. How has your life changed since then?

MR: I think the world knew about me or women’s cricketers even before the movie. Yes, some who don’t watch cricket did come to know about women’s cricket post the release of the film. Life has been the same for me. By God’s grace, I am just as busy as I was when I was playing. But yes when I do meet people, ‘they do tell me now we know your story, what all sacrifices you have done, how you helped change narratives, our respect for you has grown by leaps, etc “…..:-))

Women shine wishes, Mithali Raj in all her endeavours.

Interview by: Aditi Gupta
 

Author’s bio:

A vivacious and lively girl living in Delhi, on her voyage for exploration of colours  in life. A glimpse of what she does: Read, write, eat, Repeat!

View More


Spread the love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Back To Top
Translate »
Open chat