When the journey is tough, one often needs the trigger and the inspiration to pull out the extraordinary. It is a sheer effort that transforms good into best. For our guest on the 4th Episode of ‘The Pioneers’, it was none other than Mithali Raj.
Mithali has been the ambassador of women’s cricket in India for decades. She is one of the few players to have earned a following of a huge scale where her name is a household chant whenever women in blue are onto the field.
In Vishal Yadav’s candid chat, Nooshin Al Khadeer has added one more reason for admiring the sheer passion of Mithali and her commitment to the game. Nooshin recalls an encounter from the domestic days. She says that Mithali was her teammate and they were fielding. They were facing North Zone at Raebareli. The ground, as she recollects, was not in the best shape and there were dry patches with dust throughout the ground.
Mithali was fielding at covers and she was close to her at the cover-points. A ball made its way towards Mithali at covers and took an unexpected bounce from the dust patch. The ball had gone straight into Mithali’s face and there were horrors on the field.
She, as per Nooshin, was rushed to the hospital immediately. Her lips had suffered most and there was blood all over. Nooshin revisits the site and adds that she had blood all over her whites when she was nursing her along with the first aid. The match went on but it was not easy to keep Mithali off. She had 14 stitches on her face but was ready to take the task. With fever and a damaged face, Mithali went onto smash a half-century for the side. She got her side home.
For Nooshin, this moment and this display of passion and commitment were extraordinary. She reveals candidly about the times when she would not miss her training sessions for a streak of ten days. After this incident, she walked up to her coach and confessed her desire to take cricket in a serious manner.
This is just a small glimpse of many innumerable times when Mithali has stood up for the country. Often she takes the game home and often she inspires many younger players to give their best to the game. There is a lot more for fans in the fourth episode of The Pioneers featuring Nooshin Al Khadeer.
Click here to watch the Full Episode.
A student who enjoys studying cricket more than anything else, keen to learn the insights of the women’s game.
