Indian cricketer Mithali Raj became the first Indian cricketer and the second in the world to score 10,000 runs in international women’s cricket.
The 38-year-old cricketer, who is also the captain of the Indian ODI squad, achieved this remarkable feat when she scored 36 runs in the third ODI against South Africa in the Indian city of Lucknow on 12th March, Friday.
The first woman cricketer to breach the 10,000 runs mark was Charlotte Edwards from England.
What a champion cricketer! 👏👏
First Indian woman batter to score 10K international runs. 🔝 👍
Take a bow, @M_Raj03! 🙌🙌@Paytm #INDWvSAW #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/6qWvYOY9gC
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) March 12, 2021
Mithali has scored 663 runs in 10 Test matches with a career best of 214 runs. In terms of one-day international matches, she has scored 6938 runs from 212 matches with a career best of 125. In T20 matches, she has scored 2364 runs from a mere 89 matches, with a best of 97.
“When you play for so long, you obviously go through different milestones. And this is just one of them,” Raj said after the match. “I think the key for me has always been consistency. I’ve always believed in scoring runs each time I walk out to bat – whether it’s in domestic or internationals, it never mattered.
Iconic Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar congratulated Mithali on her feat. “Heartiest congratulations Mithali on completing 10,000 runs in International Cricket. Terrific achievement. Keep going Strong,” he tweeted.
Heartiest congratulations Mithali on completing 1️⃣0️⃣,0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ runs in International Cricket.
Terrific achievement… 👏🏻
Keep going strong! 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/1D2ybiVaUt— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) March 12, 2021
Born on 3rd December 1982, Raj is synonymous with Indian women’s cricket and is widely regarded as the best Indian woman batsman ever: she is the all time leading run scorer in all formats of cricket for India. She made her international cricket debut in 1999 against Ireland in which she scored a century. Also, she is the only Indian captain – male or female – to have led the side to two 50-over World Cup finals.
She is the recipient of several national and international awards, including the Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World in 2017. She has also been awarded the Arjuna Award in 2003, and the Padma Shri in 2015 by the Government of India.
Her stellar achievements and consistency in the game has also earn the distinction of being one of the greatest women cricketers in the world.
