By Born on December 3rd, 1982, Mithali Dorai Raj is an Indian cricketer who served as captain of the India women’s national cricket squad from 2004 to 2022. With so many record-breaking achievements under her name, Mithali is widely considered one of the best Indian female cricketers of all time. After playing cricket for 20 years in International formats, she officially declared her retirement from all International formats on June 8th, 2022.
Early Life, Career, and Family
Hailing from Jodhpur, Rajasthan, Mithali was born on December 3, 1982, to parents Leela Raj and Dorai Raj. Her father Dorai worked in the Indian Air Force as a warrant officer. She currently resides in Hyderabad, Telangana.
At age 10, Mithali began playing cricket. She completed her schooling at Keyes High School for Girls in Hyderabad. She attended Kasturba Gandhi Junior College for Women in Secunderabad. When Mithali was just in elementary school, she started receiving cricket training along with their older brother, Mithun Raj. It is reported that Mithali also has a sister but nothing is known about her such as her name as well.
In 1999, the right-handed batter marked her international debut against Ireland, where she scored a century in her ODI debut match playing against the Irish. To this day, the record still stands in Women’s cricket. Mithali is famously known as the “Lady Tendulkar of Indian Women’s cricket”, as she still holds the all-time top run-scorer for the India Women’s team in all formats, comprising Tests, ODIs, and T20Is.
In 2017, the cricketer led the Indian female squad in the One Day World Cup and managed to score a century in a match against New Zealand in the group phase. She is widely considered the top run-scorer in Women’s cricket history and although Mithali retired from cricket, she is still a relevant portion of the ODI and Test sides. She can also bowl a few overs, mainly in ODI cricket.
Achievements & Milestones
Here are some of Mithali Raj’s achievements & milestones:
- She was the recipient of the Arjuna Award in 2003.
- In 2015, she received the Padma Shri award which is considered India’s 4th highest civilian honor.
- In 2017, she won the Youth Sports Icon of Excellence Award at the Radiant Wellness Conclave, Chennai.
- In 2017, she was the Vogue Sportsperson of the Year during Vogue’s tenth anniversary.
- She was mentioned in the 2017 BBC 100 Women.
- In 2017, Mithali was named Wisden’s Leading Woman Cricketer in the World.
- In 2021, she received the Khel Ratna Award which is considered the highest sporting honor in India.
- The sole woman cricketer to exceed the seven thousand-chase milestones in Women’s One Day International tournaments.
- The first cricketer to score seven back-to-back half-centuries in ODIs and grab the record for most 50s in WODIs.
- Mithali became the first cricketer from India to score two thousand runs in T20Is in June 2018 during the Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup.
- She became the first woman cricketer to achieve 2000 WT20I runs.
- She became the first female to appear in 200 ODI games on February 1, 2019, during the team’s series against New Zealand.
- Mithali became the first female to finish two decades in International cricket formats.
- In July 2021, she smashed Charlotte Edwards’ 10,273 runs record and became the player with the highest number of runs in Women’s International cricket.
Mithali Raj: Net Worth
As of 2023, Mithali’s net worth has been estimated to be around $5 million, including her payments from cricket, endorsements, and advertisements.
Mithali Raj: Lifestyle
Mithali owns a BMW and some other cars as well. Her residence which is located in Hyderabad, Telangana is worth INR 2.2 crores which she bought in 2012.
Even though Mithali makes several crores annually during her career as a cricketer, she and her family live a very simple life and not what most people would expect.
Mithali Raj: Boyfriend/ Husband
As of 2023, there has been no news regarding the love life of Mithali Raj. She is currently 40 years old and it appears that the former cricketer doesn’t have a boyfriend nor is she married yet so she doesn’t have a husband for now. However, she may be keeping things away from the spotlight and secretly dating someone. So at this point, it’s too soon to jump to conclusions until we hear an official announcement from Mithali herself.
