Mithali Raj, who became the leading women run-getter in One-Day Internationals during the match against Australia in the on-going World Cup on Wednesday, was in no mood to even give a serious thought to it, leave alone celebrate.
Reason? “I was terribly disappointed with the loss to Australia in this crucial game. If we had won, maybe there would have been some celebration. But at the end of the game it was normal, routine stuff and the feeling of setting this record never really occurred to me,” the 34-year-old told The Hindu in an exclusive chat from the United Kingdom.
“There is nothing new for me about this record as I had held it earlier for some time. Coming in a World Cup it does have its own significance but I always believe that individual performances don’t count if they don’t help the team’s cause,” said Mithali, who now has 6028 runs from 183 ODIs at an average of 51.52 with five centuries.
“This milestone is perhaps the result of me being consistent over the years at the highest level. But it certainly isn’t the end in itself. I still love to keep improving with each match,” she added.
“This World Cup is a reminder of the new standards in women’s cricket. The evolution of the game is pretty evident as unlike in previous editions, there are no weak teams and almost every team has a centurion, many teams are scoring consistently 270-plus,” Mithali said.
“Look at the number of leg-spinners in this World Cup. It is amazing and makes it even more challenging. I have not seen so many in one edition earlier. This is great news for women’s cricket,” she said.
On her own future Mithali said, “I will mentor and groom young talent in the team once I decide to leave the game but certainly not before another year’s go at the highest level. And, that too if the selectors feel I am good enough to last that long.”
Mithali was also happy that the women’s edition was being telecast live and felt that it would help the sport a long way in terms of more girls picking up the game.
'Shackled by team’s needs'
Mithali feels that there isn’t enough cushion in the line-up for her to open up her batting style.
“I thought in this World Cup I will just go out and enjoy, bat with more freedom. But it is the same old story. I still have to be conscious of the team’s needs, and bat with a lot of responsibility. Like in the game against South Africa when there was a complete collapse after I got out,” said Mithali.
“I don’t want to see too many overs left for the others to face in a game and that is why I had to be very cautious and selective in my stroke-play,” she said about the slow start against Australia on Wednesday.
“Maybe, in a couple of years I will end up playing the way I want to. Initially, I took pride when the team used to look up to me and it continues to be the same till date. But in hindsight it has become a disadvantage,” added Mithali.
“This burden of carrying on being the mainstay also means that I can’t work on my game, explore other areas of batting. Definitely not able to try a window for a different role even now. Even now I always have to bat according to the team’s requirements,” Mithali said. “This also means curbing my instincts a lot.”
