Mithali Raj Recalls When Her Cricket Kitbag Was Mistaken For A Hockey One

As a confident Indian team chases T20 World Cup glory to add to last year's ODI triumph, Mithali Raj said on Wednesday that her journey from limited opportunities to becoming the highest run-scorer in women’s international cricket mirrors the remarkable growth of the sport in the country.

With Harmanpreet Kaur leading India into the T20 World Cup in England and Wales, women's cricket has come a long way since the 1990s, when the game struggled for structure and visibility.

The transformation culminated in India’s maiden ODI World Cup title in India and Sri Lanka last year, a landmark achievement that helped reshape long-held stereotypes.

As India begins its quest for a first T20 World Cup crown to complement its ODI title, Mithali stressed the importance of adaptability, awareness and a willingness to learn qualities she believes will be vital for the Harmanpreet-led side when it opens its campaign against Pakistan in Birmingham on Sunday.

"There are times when we work very hard and feel we've done our best, only to face conditions we are not prepared for. If you are aware of your environment and the conditions around you, you will be in a better position to adapt," Mithali said at and event of "WeRise", a partnership between DP World and Women Entrepreneurship platform.

"Adaptation is so important, and that comes from being open-minded, willing to learn, gain new experiences and incorporate them into your training. My advice would be to stay aware and remain open to adapting to new things," added the legendary cricketer-turned-commentator.

Recalling the challenges of her early years, Mithali said that when she travelled by train with a large kit bag, people invariably assumed she was a hockey player because very few knew women played cricket in India.

"When I started playing cricket, not many knew women played the sport in the country. People would see my kit bag and ask if I played hockey. Not one person imagined it could belong to a girl cricketer," said Mithali, the only woman to score more than 10,000 international runs.

She said the prevailing belief in the 1990s was that women simply did not play cricket. "(The thought process was), 'We've never seen women playing on the streets, so perhaps they don't play cricket'," she recalled.

Mithali said it was not as if opportunities were served on a platter in her era; aspiring cricketers had to carve out their own path through individual perseverance, resilience and sustained effort.

"And when we were playing, we had to create opportunities, we had to work towards creating visibility in the sport... and sometimes it had to do with individual perseverance, individual brilliance that we are able to attract people to come and watch the game." Mithali added that a stronger support system and ecosystem could have helped many players extend their careers, instead of leaving the sport out of frustration or a lack of opportunities.

Mithali said the absence of a strong support structure in the '90s slowed the growth of women's cricket and shortened many careers.

"If we had a proper ecosystem in the '90s, it would have helped women cricketers prolong their careers. It would have accelerated the growth of the sport and raised its profile much earlier. It wouldn't have taken so long had the ecosystem been in place," she said.

"Like, right now, we do have the BCCI. We came under the BCCI in 2007, so until then it was survival for the sport in the country or for women cricketers," she added.