Consistency, discipline key for Mithali Raj

Known as the Sachin Tendulkar of Indian womens cricket for the longevity of her career Mithali Raj became only the second woman player in the world and the first from India to get to 10000 international runs during Fridays third ODI against South Africa womenThe 38yearold Raj who is in her 22nd year of international cricket made her debut for India in June 1999 when the Indian mens team was still led by Mohammed Azharuddin and had just a few days before her debut exited the 1999 World Cup in the Super Six stage As long as I get an opportunity to bat it has to be counted and that has given me a lot of experience and exposure to work on my game over the years with the changing standards in womens game I try to be relevant in the international circuit said the righthanded Raj after Fridays game while speaking to the mediaWhen you play for this long you go through different milestones This being one of it the key for me has always been consistency and I have always believed in scoring runs each time I go out to bat whether it is domestic or international cricket she added after India women lost to South Africa by six runs under DLS methodFormer teammate Anjum Chopra who witnessed her international debut in 1999 attributed her longevity to discipline and dedication and her ability to keep herself motivated enough to do routine things everyday As far as skill levels go you can develop as you go along But such a long career requires discipline and dedication which is visible from the fact that she is playing scoring and putting in the hard yards even when there is no cricket Chopra told IANSUnlike mens cricket womens cricket is not that frequent So there are phases where there is no cricket The fact that she has been able to keep herself going for so long despite that is what stands out Her cover drives backfoot punches are all the same but she has added more skills like using the long handle To keep following a routine day in and day out requires dedication and discipline especially if you are a woman pursuing sport in India That is commendable added Chopra who represented India in 127 ODIs 12 Tests and 18 T20 InternationalsRaj had made a century in that ODI debut in Milton Keynes vs Ireland scoring 114 while opening partner and fellow debutant Reshma Gandhi made 104 as India won by 161 runs The two set a few records in the course of that partnership Mithali and I were drafted into the playing XI after the regular players failed in the previous matches So they thought why not try the newcomers We did well in the opportunity given to us recalled Gandhi to IANS Her unbeaten opening partnership of 258 with Raj was a world record thenWith age your reflexes slow down But the great thing with Mithali is that she is technically sound and still has tremendous amounts of patience added Gandhi who is from Ahmednagar but is now settled in Delhi Raj has so far scored 6974 runs in ODI cricket at an average of 5053 with 2364 runs in T20Is at 3752 and 663 runs in Test cricket at 5100 She has also scored a whopping 75 half centuries and eight centuriesTo be frank I couldnt have imagined someone would make 10000 international runs in womens cricket In our days we hardly played that much cricket said former India womens team captain Diana Edulji who brought Raj into Indian Railways in Secunderabad Edulji got her a job in Railways with relaxation even though Raj hadnt yet turned 18I knew her calibre when she was a youngster Knew she had potential to go big She played a number of years under me and I am happy that one of the Indians is on top along with Charlotte Edwards the only other to have 10000 international runs added Edulji whose international career lasted from 1976 till 1993 Edulji says Rajs biggest quality is her temperament and patienceTemperament patience and determination to stay at the wicket and score runs She had a big appetite for runs added Edulji while speaking to IANS Off the field she used to love sleeping That was her best pastime Raj has played plenty of great innings throughout her career Her greatest Test knock was back in 2002 when she made 214 at Taunton against England That is her only Test hundred apart from four fifties But it is in the ODIs that she has an enviable record scoring seven centuries and 54 halfcenturies in 212 matchesIn T20Is also she has scored 17 halfcenturies in 89 matches Sachin Tendulkar too tweeted on the milestone Heartiest congratulations Mithali on completing 10000 runs in International Cricket Terrific achievement Emoticon clapping hands Keep going strong tweeted Tendulkar Tendulkars former teammate VVS Laxman also tweeted admiration for RajCongratulations M_Raj03 on becoming the first Indian Woman Cricketer to score 10K runs You are not only a great ambassador and a legend of the game but you have inspired a generation of cricketers to take up our sport Proud of you Thumbs up INDWvSAW BCCI tweeted Laxman Raj is Indias alltime highest run scorer in ODIs and T20Is and the fourth highest in Tests behind Sandhya Agarwal 1110 runs Shanta Rangaswamy 750 and Shubhangi Kulkarni 700Former England captain Edwards was the only woman to have scored more than 10000 runs in international cricket before Raj Edwards 41 retired from international cricket in May 2016 and later retired from all forms of the game in September 2017 She scored 5992 runs in 191 ODIs 2605 runs in 95 T20Is and 1676 runs in 23 TestsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever