India skipper Mithali Raj set a new record by smashing seventh consecutive ODI half-century against England in an ICC Women's World Cup match at County Ground in Derby on Saturday.
India's top three — Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut and Mithali Raj — all slammed half-centuries each as India posted a huge target of 281/3 in their tournament opener. [ads-post] This was Mithali's seventh consecutive half-century, bettering the likes of Lindsay Reeler (Australia), Ellyse Perry (Australia) and Charlotte Edwards (England), all of whom slammed six back-to-back fifties each in the past.
But Mithali went one better than these stalwarts in her innings of 71 off 73 deliveries, which also included eight glorious boundaries.
These are Mitali's scores in her last seven ODIs, including this match against England — 71 vs England, 62* vs South Africa, 54 vs South Africa, 51* vs South Africa, 73* vs Bangladesh, 64 vs South Africa and 70* vs Sri Lanka.
Also, this is Mithali's 47 ODI fifty, which is also the highest in women's cricket history. Meanwhile, the India skipper is also just 148 runs away from becoming the first women's cricketer ever to slam 6000 ODI runs.
Known for her flamboyant batting style, Indian women’s cricket team skipper Mithali Raj has scored heaps of runs in her international career. Mithali who was attending the opening dinner and media roundtable event came up with a perfect reply when a reporter asked about her favourite ‘male’ player.
Raj said, “Do you ask the same question to a male cricketer? Do you ask them who their favourite female cricketer is?” she said to the journalist in question. “I have always been asked who’s your favourite cricketer but you should ask them who their favourite female cricketer is.” Surely, it was not her willow but her words that were spot on.
Hailing BCCI’s effort to promote women’s cricket, the skipper appreciated the improvements made by the board in the last two home series.
“There’s a lot of difference because we are not a regular on television. Now the BCCI has made an effort that the last two home series have been televised and social media has improved a lot of it but there is a still a lot of catch-up to do in terms of recognition,” she said.
Talking about men’s cricket, Mithali said that it sets a certain bar where the women cricketers seek to reach.
“Men’s cricket sets the bar. We are always trying to reach where they set the standard. All of us follow men’s cricket because we want at some point that women’s cricket would be up there,” she said. “All of us at some point have been coached by a male cricketer. I strongly believe that they get a lot of intensity into the training sessions. They are very hard taskmasters.”
Mentioning about the role of coaches, Raj told that there should be someone who is tough task taskmaster so that the girls really put in the intensity in their training sessions.
“I believe that if you are representing your country, your country should get the best of the best. It’s nothing to do with women coaches [who] don’t have the ability, they do. but if you really want to push the team to the highest level, you need to have somebody who is a tough taskmaster so that the girls really put in the intensity in their training sessions and they carry that into the main tournaments.”
India begin the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 quest on June 24 against hosts England.
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