For decades, women’s cricket lived in the shadows of the men’s game, fighting for basic facilities, equal recognition, and a professional platform. Few individuals have witnessed this grueling journey from its humble, grassroots beginnings to today’s multi-million-dollar global reality quite like Mithali Raj. As one of the longest-serving icons of international sport, her career did not just span more than two decades; it actively connected two completely different worlds of cricket. She stood as a constant pillar of excellence while everything around her transformed.
Mithali Raj’s legendary career stands as a unique archive of the sport’s structural evolution. She began her journey in an era when women’s cricket was entirely managed by independent, volunteer-run bodies like the Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI) and the International Women’s Cricket Council (IWCC). These early days were defined by incredibly tight budgets, minimal media coverage, unreserved train travel, and immense personal sacrifices by the players just to represent their country.
The landscape shifted dramatically when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) officially took the women’s game under their wings. This historic merger brought a massive, much-needed upgrade in elite training facilities, better travel conditions, financial security, and a clear path toward true professionalism.
Reflecting on this rare and privileged vantage point, Mithali Raj shared: “Very few players I can say, who have seen pre-BCCI and post-BCCI phases, where playing under one organisation like Women’s Cricket Association of India and then IWCC… then coming under ICC, coming under the BCCI, seeing the different changes in facilities and the growth of women’s cricket. Not everybody can say that. So I have been very fortunate to have that journey.”
Staying at the top of an international sport for over twenty years requires far more than just raw physical talent and technical skill, it requires a profound, deep-seated sense of purpose. For Mithali, that purpose always went far beyond breaking batting records, anchoring the innings, or leading her country to intense World Cup finals. It was fundamentally about sustaining the game through its toughest, most invisible years so that the next generation of young girls would not have to fight the same battles.
She gracefully assumed the role of a living link between the gritty pioneers who played purely for the love of the game and the modern stars who now command global attention and corporate sponsorships. “I genuinely feel that I had a particular role to play to bridge that generation with the current generation,” Raj noted. “You need someone to play that role, and perhaps my journey was that. That was the sense of playing for so long.”
When the Women’s Premier League (WPL) was finally launched, it marked the ultimate realization of what pioneers like Mithali had fought for throughout their entire careers. While fans worldwide desperately hoped to see her grace the tournament as an active player, she chose a different route, retiring from all formats right as the grand league was announced.
Instead of taking the field as a batter, she transitioned seamlessly into crucial leadership roles off it, serving as a mentor/advisor for a prominent WPL franchise and working as a consultant to improve domestic grassroots structures. It is a major transition she looks back on with complete peace of mind.
“I did have the option of playing, but I chose not to for my own personal reasons. But there are no regrets in these decisions,” she explained. “I was very happy to be part of, you know, one of the franchise as a mentor-cum-advisor, and then getting into the role of being a consultant for our state association, looking after women’s cricket.”
Mithali Raj’s enduring legacy is not just defined by the thousands of international runs she scored or the matches she won, but by the steady, unyielding foundation she helped build. By bridging the past and the present, she ensured that the future of women’s cricket remains incredibly bright, secure, and limitless for the generations yet to come.
(Quotes sourced from the Scoop by Wisden)
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