Mithali Raj turns 37: A timeline of the Indian legendary batswoman's captaincy so far

17 years ago, a 19-year old teenager made her way into the Indian women's Test side. A few months after her debut in the longest format, she showed the world what she was capable of with a staggering knock of 214 runs against England in Taunton. Since then, Mithali Raj has come a long way from being one of the most exciting young talents in the country to becoming India's most popular and cherished batswoman.

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Mithali Raj turns 37

Raj, who celebrates her 37th birthday on Tuesday, is one of the most diligent servants of Indian cricket. She has played a vital role in the rise of the women's game in a country that has, for long, been obsessed over their male counterparts. From shutting down gender-biased reporters to disapproving comparisons between male and female cricketers, the Indian captain (in Tests & ODIs) has helped her teammates in carving their own niche in the sport. Here is how she has been a true leader -

2004

Raj's first match as the captain of the Indian team had actually come in March 2004 as she stepped in for Maben for a game. It made her the then third-youngest player to lead her team in ODIs, at 21 years and 94 days.

2005

She was handed the captaincy just two games before the biggest tournament of her life and that was the beginning of Raj’s full-time captaincy career. Before the World Cup that year, the then India captain Mamatha Maben got injured during a seven-match series when Australia had taken a 4-1 lead. Mithali, the team’s vice-captain was made in charge of the team. She led the team to their first World Cup final, which was in South Africa, where they came second to Australia.

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2006

Raj led the side to their first-ever Test match and series victory in England. She wrapped up the year by winning the Asia Cup for the second time in 12 months, without losing a single game.

2008

When India toured England, they did not manage to win a single game and Raj was stripped off the captaincy despite ending up as the highest run-scorer of the series.

2012

When Raj's replacement, Jhulan Goswami, was relieved of the job, Mithali was ignored and Anjum Chopra made a comeback to captaincy. Only after that experiment failed was Mithali reinstated the same year, with teammates very different from her last stint but this time she was more mature and was able to deal with youngsters in a better way.

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Since then, Mithali has led the Indian team to glory on numerous occasions, including leading them to two World Cup finals. She retired from T20Is in September 2019 to focus on readying herself for the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2021 and dreams of winning the tournament. Her legacy is perhaps the continuity, the consistency and the constancy she has provided. Future captains from India and abroad, will definitely struggle to match up to that.

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