16 Interesting Facts About Mithali Raj: Records, Firsts and Lesser-Known Stories

Published: October 29, 2022, 10:58 PM IST | Updated: October 28, 2026, 12:22 AM IST
Written by Aahwaan Gupta | Edited and fact-checked by Amit Saha | Editorial policy

For her full career story, stats, captaincy record and awards, read our complete Mithali Raj biography. This page focuses on the lesser-known facts.

Mithali Raj at a Glance

16 Interesting Facts About Mithali Raj

1. She wanted to be a dancer first. As a child, Mithali trained in Bharatanatyam and was serious enough about it that she eventually had to choose between dance and cricket.
2. Cricket began as a cure for waking up late. Her father, an Indian Air Force warrant officer, sent her to her brother’s cricket academy in Secunderabad at the age of 10 to give her day a routine. Coach Jyothi Prasad spotted her talent there.
3. She was a World Cup probable at 14. Mithali was named among the probables for the 1997 Women’s World Cup but did not make the final squad.
4. A century on debut at 16. She scored an unbeaten 114 on her ODI debut against Ireland in 1999, aged 16 years and 205 days. She was the youngest centurion in women’s ODIs until Ireland’s Amy Hunter broke the record in October 2021, and she is still the youngest Asian woman to score an ODI hundred. See the current Indian women’s cricket team.
5. The “Lady Tendulkar” link is literal. Mithali and Sachin Tendulkar both made their international debuts at exactly 16 years and 205 days, and both finished as the leading international run-scorers in their game. Compare with the most hundreds in international cricket.
6. The youngest woman to hit a Test double century. Her 214 against England at Taunton in 2002 came when she was 19. It is still the highest Test score by an Indian woman (see most Test runs for India in women’s cricket).
7. She wore jersey No. 3. Mithali was India’s 56th Test and 56th ODI cricketer, and wore T20I cap No. 9.
8. India’s youngest women’s ODI captain. She was handed the captaincy in 2004 at 21 years and 94 days, and went on to lead India in a record 155 ODIs, winning 89.
9. 109 ODIs in a row. Between April 2004 and February 2013, Mithali played 109 consecutive ODIs for India without missing a match.
10. The only woman past 7,000 ODI runs. She finished with 7,805 ODI runs, 232 appearances and 71 scores of 50-plus, all records in women’s ODIs (see most runs in women’s ODI cricket).
11. The only Indian captain with two ODI World Cup finals. No India captain, male or female, has matched her two finals, in 2005 and 2017. Harmanpreet Kaur went one better in 2025, winning India’s first title (see most runs in the Women’s World Cup).
12. She led India’s first Test series win in England. In 2006, India won the Test series in England 1-0, with Jhulan Goswami taking ten wickets in the deciding Test at Taunton and Mithali unbeaten at the crease when the winning runs came.
13. The first Indian to 2,000 T20I runs. She was the first Indian cricketer, male or female, to reach the mark (see most T20I runs for India in women’s cricket).
14. The first woman named a Wisden India Cricketer of the Year. She was one of the six Cricketers of the Year in the Wisden India Almanack 2015, and later Wisden’s Leading Woman Cricketer in the World for 2017.
15. She reads before she bats. An avid reader, Mithali has often been spotted with a book in the dressing room before walking out to bat.
16. A stadium stand bears her name. The Andhra Cricket Association unveiled the Mithali Raj Stand at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam on 12 October 2025, joining honours like the Rohit Sharma Stand at Wankhede. The idea came from Smriti Mandhana.

In domestic cricket she represented Andhra, Air India and Railways, serving Railways the longest. Many current Indian women cricketers name her as the reason they picked up a bat. See also the BCCI’s equal match fees and the most runs in women’s T20Is.

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