Mithali Raj is not only a fantastic cricketer, but the perfect poster girl for Indian cricket

Mithali Raj: Queen of women's cricket

On Sunday, India captain Mithali Raj became only the third cricketer and the first woman to appear in six World Cups, joining the iconic Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistani great Javed Miandad.

She achieved the feat as India locked horns with arch-rivals Pakistan in their much-anticipated opening match of the ICC Women's World Cup at the Bay Oval, New Zealand.

Mithali Raj – The Queen of Women’s Cricket

Mithali is the second cricketer to play international cricket for more than 20 years. This is why she is known as the Queen of Women's Cricket. With a long list of accomplishments and numerous records broken over her career, she has deservedly earned the title.

Mithali played her maiden international match at the age of 16 against Ireland on June 26, 1999. She scored a century on her debut, making her the youngest player to do so. Since then, she has been a regular in the Indian women’s cricket team across all three formats.

She started playing cricket at a young age as her parents wanted to get rid of her laziness. She was considered a probable part of the Indian squad in the 1997 Women's Cricket World Cup, but could not make it to the final squad.

She made her maiden World Cup appearance at the age of 18 in the 2000 Women's Cricket World Cup and has appeared in the event in 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017. She is currently leading the Indian squad in the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup.

Mithali Raj’s achievements.

Mithali Raj has a plethora of achievements under her belt. At the age of 19, she broke the record for the highest score by an individual player in Test cricket, scoring 214 runs against England.