Mithali Raj, the captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, leads by inspiring not just her team, but a whole generation of kids who have taken up sport
She walks up for the interview, still hot from her training at the Karnataka Institute of Cricket. Mithali Raj, the captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, was recently ranked No 1 ODI batswoman by the ICC. She, along with other sportswomen, has been able to motivate a generation of kids to take up sport.
Which is probably why she felt it was time for an autobiography. But it won’t all be about front-foot drives and pull shots. There is room for off-the-field titbits too. “There is a lot of interesting gossip. The life of a cricketer is never boring,” Raj says, with a chuckle.
Her book, published by Penguin India, will hit the stands late next year. Apart from the odd detail on dressing room banter, the book describes the journey of the Indian skipper. “Being a woman cricketer in the 1990s was tough,” she says of her long career. Here, edited excerpts from the field:
Why did you decide to write this book, and what can we look forward to?
The recent ICC Women’s World Cup was a hit with the public, so a lot of publishers approached me to write an autobiography. This is a good time to pen down my journey — to talk about the misconceptions and struggles I faced as a woman cricketer in the 1990s.
What were some of the misconceptions and struggles that you faced?
Women’s cricket wasn’t considered a profession. There was no infrastructure or money in it. A lot of girls had to spend money from their own pocket to tour. I remember being picked for a tour to Sri Lanka in 1999. My dad approached his bank and my school to get some funds to make it happen. It was a big struggle.
You have changed the perception of women’s cricket in India. Was it a conscious effort or did it happen organically?
I did make an effort, but it wasn’t a conscious thing. My goal was to create an identity of my own. My parents worked hard to give me this life. I wanted to make them proud.
