Mithali Raj is the Third Woman to have Played in 6 ODI World Cups
Mithali Raj joins Sachin Tendulkar and Javed Miandad as the third cricketer to compete in 6 World Cups.
India’s ODI captain, Mithali Raj, made history on Sunday (March 6) when she walked out for the toss versus Pakistan within ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2022 opening at Mount Maunganui.
The third cricketer from Hyderabad
The renowned Hyderabadi cricketer became the third cricketer to play in the 6 ODI World Cups. With her achievement, the 39-year-old cricketer joins legends such as Sachin Tendulkar as well as Javed Miandad as the only players to appear in six ODI World Cups.
She has also made history by becoming the first woman to play in 6 ODI World Cups. Mithali made her World Cup debut around 2000 and has been a consistent performer in the tournament ever since.
Raj, who guided the Women In Blue to the final of the previous edition of the competition, which was hosted in the United Kingdom in 2017, is looking to win a trophy and then become India’s first female captain to do so.
Meanwhile, having won the toss, Raj chose to bat first against arch-rivals Pakistan during their tournament opener. Pooja Vastrakar, Smriti Mandhana, and Sneh Rana all scored half-centuries to help India reach 244/7 in the permitted 50 overs. Harmanpreet Kaur, Shafali Verma, and Mithali were all removed cheaply by India’s top-order within the game. However, Rana and Vastrakar’s century partnership for the 7th wicket not only resurrected the Indians, and ensured that their bowlers had a decent total to defend.
Raj claimed her desire to achieve well in the world cups had kept her going in the main event after winning the toss versus Bismah Maroof’s team.
Raj statement
“We’ll bat. It’s a good wicket to bat. put up a big total and put pressure on them. We’re going with three seamers and three spinners. We want to go into the tournament with a clean slate, take some momentum from the last game which we won against New Zealand. The hunger to do well in WCs has kept me going,” Raj said.