Former Indian captain Mithali Raj opens up about her marriage decisions and cricketing priorities in a recent podcast appearance on ‘The Ranveer Allahbadia Show’.
In a candid conversation with Ranveer Allahbadia, Indian legend Mithali Raj shared her views on the thought of her arranged marriage which came into her life in the year 2009.
When asked about whether she was into the ‘Arrange Marriage Circuit’, Mithali Raj revealed she was about to enter the stage. “I had already entered at that time,” said Mithali Raj. At the age of 27 or 28 when Mithali Raj was representing her national side as a professional cricketer, her mother began to emphasize the thought of getting married.
Mithali reflected that the year 2009 was a defining year for her as she was part of India’s squad for the 2009 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup which was also the inaugural edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, but Mithali revealed “I already made up my mind,” stating that after returning from the World Cup she would be getting married.
In the 2009 World Cup, Mithali Raj scored 91 runs in four matches as India reached the semi-final in the following edition which led to larger recognition of the Indian women’s cricket in those days.
Mithali shared that after returning from the World Cup, she reflected on the gratitude and recognition being received and realized that her priorities were shifting towards her career. “I started to see myself on Television,” she further added and emphasized the moment for receiving the appreciation received after accomplishing as a sporting Individual. “Appreciation is a very big factor in Athlete’s life,” she added.
Following this, Mithali opened up on reconsidering to marry and decided to give it more time after pushing it for two more years. The star batter decided to extend her cricketing career before deciding on marriage for another two years.
Despite Mithali’s decision to focus on career plans, her mother remained concerned about her personal life. Mithali recalled how her mother thought that someone from Australia was considering Mithali Raj to spend more of her time in Australia following cricketing commitments & tours. Mithali Raj talked about her mother’s thoughts on her “She thought I (Mithali) might be having an affair with an Australian”.
With a humorous tone, Mithali Shared, “She called up my friend and said, ‘talk to Mithali once, suddenly she is refusing now.'”
Mithali Raj chose to delay the marriage but went on to become India’s greatest female batter, enjoying a phenomenal international career for more than two decades. The former Indian batter scored over 10,000 international runs across formats.
Loves all things female cricket
