India batting legend Mithali Raj announced her retirement earlier this week thus drawing curtains on a storied career that saw her become one of the greatest to have played the game. During her 23-year career, Mithali rewrote record books as she became an icon and a role model for budding women cricketers.
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And this is what makes the 39-year-old happy at being someone who others look up to – something she didn’t anticipate when starting her cricketing journey.
“When I started cricket I did not anticipate that one day young girls will look up to me. But I am happy that today’s girls have role models,” Mithali told India Today.
“The good thing is that women cricketers can be role models now, when I started out it was just men’s cricketers in the 90s,” she added.
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Mithali said she laid the first foundation of her dream by joining a camp where she was the only girl. “Starting from an exclusive boys camp where I was the only girl, today I’ll be leaving a legacy where there are minimum of 60-100 girls in each camp,” Mithali replied on how the scenario has changed for women cricket.
“I only foresee a very bright future of women’s cricket in our country,” she added.
In an emotional post on social media, Mithali, who amassed 10,868 runs across formats during her international career, said the time when her journey must end has come.
“I set out as a little girl on the journey to wear the India blues as representing your country is the highest honour. The journey was full of highs and some lows,” Mithali wrote. “Each event taught me something unique and the last 23 years have been the most fulfilling, challenging & enjoyable years of my life. Like all journeys, this one too must come to an end. Today is the day I retire from all forms of International Cricket.”
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