Mithali Raj Biography | Career | Family | Stats | Records | Awards

Women cricketer Mithali Raj
Lady Tendulkar of Indian Women's cricket Mithali Raj

Mithali Raj is the name that strikes every one mind when one thinks about Women Cricketers. By dedicating herself to cricket for the last two decades “the Lady Sachin Tendulkar” scripts various unique records in her cricket career.

Mithali Raj started to handle the bat from the age of 10 and make it to the Indian squad at an early age of 14. Though she remains one of the successful women cricketers she still fails to lift the maiden world cup title for India.

Check out the biography of Mithali Raj who turns into a successful team captain from a Bharatnatyam dancer.

Mithali Raj Biography

Full Name Mithali Dorai Raj
Nick Name Lady Sachin
Date of Birth 03-Dec-1982
Birth Place Jodhpur, Rajasthan
Zodiac Sign Sagittarius
School Keyes high school for girls
Kasturba Gandhi Junior College for Women in Secunderabad
College Not Available
Religion Hindu
Nationality Indian
Family Father – Dorai Raj
Mother – Leela Raj
Brother – Mithun Raj
Martial Status Un Married
Profession Women Cricketer
Role All Rounder
Batting Style Right-hand bat
Bowling Style Right arm Legbreak
Teams Played India Women, Air India Women, Asia Women XI, India Blue Women, Velocity
International Debut Test – ENG Women vs IND Women at Lucknow – January 14 – 17, 2002
ODI – IND Women vs Ire Women at Milton Keynes – June 26, 1999
T20I – ENG Women vs IND Women at Derby – August 05, 2006
Favourite Cricketer Michael Clarke
Coach/Mentor Jyoti Prasad, Sampath Kumar, Vinod Sharma, R.S.R Murthy

Mithali Raj Family

  • Mithali Dorai Raj was born on 3 December 1982 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
  • Mithali’s father Dorai Raj was an Airman (warrant officer) in the Indian Air force. Her mother’s name is Leela Raj.
  • She started cricket coaching & practice with her brother from her school days.
Mithali Raj with her father(Dorai Raj) and with her mother(Leela Raj)
Mithali Raj with her father(Dorai Raj) and with her mother(Leela Raj)

Mithali Raj Career

Domestic Career

  • During her play for Railways in the domestic competition, she played with stars like Purnima Rau, Anjum Chopra & Anju Jain for Air India.

International Career

  • Mithali made her ODI debut on 26 June 1999 against Ireland and scored a cracking 114 runs in her debut match.
  • On 14 January 2002, she made her Test debut against England at Lucknow, India. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be a dream debut and she was run-out for a duck.
  • On 17 August 2002, at the age of 19, in her third Test, she broke Karen Rolton’s record of the world’s highest individual Test score of 209*, scoring a new high of 214.
  • Mithali was ill with a strain of typhoid during the CricInfo Women’s World Cup in 2002 and left out of the team.
  • Raj led India to their first World Cup final in 2005, in South Africa, where they met Australia in the finals and lost the match.
  • Mithali Raj led the Indian team to the finals in the 2005 Women’s Cricket World Cup where the team lost to Australia.
  • In August 2006, she led the side to their first-ever Test and Series victory in England.
  • Raj made her T20 debut on 5 August 2006 against England, scoring 28 off 37 balls.
  • In September 2019, Mithali Raj has retired from T20I Cricket.
  • Mithali Raj announced her international retirement on June 8, 2022.
Mithali Raj T20 debut
Mithali Raj made her T20 debut on 5 August 2006

 Achievements and records 

  • She is the second women cricketer to score more than 5000 runs in ODI matches.
  • Mithali became the first female cricketer to win the “Wisden Indian Cricketer of Year” award in 2015.
  • Mithali is the first woman cricketer who scored 7 consecutive fifties in ODI. Overall, Javed Miandad is the only player ahead of Mithali who scored 9 consecutive fifties.
  • Mithali holds the record for the 2nd highest scores in women’s test cricket with 214 runs.
  • She is the highest run-scorer in ODIs i.e. 6888 runs. She surpassed Charlotte Edwards of England with 5992 runs.
  • During India’s series against New Zealand in 2019, she became the first woman to play 200 ODI matches.
  • Mithali is the first captain to lead India to the ICC ODI World Cup final twice – 2005 and 2017.
  • She became the first player to score 6,000 runs in WODIs in July 2017.
  • She is the first Indian and 5th female cricketer to score more than 1,000 World Cup runs.
  • Mithali became the first Indian Woman batter to score 2000 runs in T20I cricket.
  • Mithali Raj becomes the first Indian woman cricketer and second internationally to complete 10,000 runs across all formats.

Awards

  • She was honored with the “Arjuna Award” in the year 2003 for her prolific performances in the sport.
  • She received the prestigious “Padma Shri” Award in the year 2015.
Mithali Raj receives Padma Shri" Award in the year 2015.
Mithali Raj receives Padma Shri” Award in the year 2015.
  • In 2015, Mithali was named in Wisden Indian Cricketer of the year.
  • In 2017, she became the Vogue Sportsperson of the Year.
  • Youth Sports Icon of Excellence Award for 2017.
  • She was named as one of the players in ICC Women’s ODI Team of the Year in December 2017.
  • Listed on BBC 100 Women list in 2017.
  • In November 2020, Raj was nominated for the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade, and the award for women’s ODI cricketer of the decade.

Lesser-Known facts

  • Mithali started playing cricket at a very young age of 10.
  • Mithali was keen on becoming a Bharatnatyam dancer later emerged as a cricket star.
  • She played both ODI and test for the Indian Women’s Cricket Team when she was just 14.
  • She was named among the probable in 1997 women’s cricket world cup, but could not make it in the final squad.
  • Mithali was picked up for the Indian Team when she was 17.
  • Mithali suffered from typhoid during the CricInfo Women’s World Cup in 2002.
  • She is the highest run-scorer in Women’s International Cricket. From 186 ODIs in her career, she has amassed 6190 runs.
  • Even she made 10-50s in T20s. She became the second player to score 5,500 runs in WODIs in February 2017.
  • Mithali is the first woman to complete 20 years in International cricket.
  • Mithali Raj is known as “Lady Tendulkar of Indian Women’s Cricket”.
  • For the Indian Women’s National Cricket Team, she was appointed as batting consultant. She had played as a player and coach the team also.
  • Mithali Raj is unmarried and not dating anyone.

Mithali Raj Hobbies

  • Mithali was a passionate Bharatnatyam dancer as a young girl. Thus she loves to do it at her free time.
  • Reading books

Controversies

  • Mithali Raj accused the coach Ramesh Powar and BCCI COA member Diana Edulji in a letter to BCCI of bias, humiliation at not including her in the 2018 T20 World Cup semi-finals.
Mithali Raj was involved in controversy with Ramesh Powar during the 2018 WT20 World cup
Mithali Raj with Ramesh Powar

Mithali Raj’s Social Media Profiles

Mithali Raj Batting Stats

Format Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave 100s 50s
WTEST 12 19 3 699 214 43.68 1 4
WODI 232 211 57 7805 125* 50.68 7 64
WT20I 89 84 21 2364 97* 37.52 0 17

Mithali Raj Bowling Stats

Format Mat Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10w
WTEST 12 0 2.66 0 0 0
WODI 232 8 3/4 3/4 11.37 3.19 21.3 0 0 0
WT20I 89 0 6 0 0
Is Mithali Raj Married?

No, the Indian woman cricketer Mithali Raj has not yet married.

Who is Mithali Raj Boyfriend?

Inspite of not getting married Mithali Raj has not yet named anyone as her boyfriend.

What is Mithali Raj’s Mother Tongue?

Mithali Raj’s mother tongue is Tamil. Despite having the birthplace of Jodhpur, Rajasthan Raj’s father is a Tamilian.

What is the Net Worth of the Mithali Raj?

According to trendcelebsnow.com, the Mithali Raj’s net worth figure is estimated to be around $5 million (₹37 crores approximately) as of February 2020.