Mithali Raj says Indian cricket’s era of dominance has arrived
Over the past few years, the Indian men’s team ended a decade-long title drought by winning the 2024 T20 World Cup, while the women’s team followed it up by clinching their first ICC trophy, the ODI World Cup crown, last year.
India’s dominance has also extended to the youth group; Its under-19 teams have also won world championships in recent years, strengthening the country’s status as a powerhouse.
“I have wanted Indian cricket to dominate for a long time and the time has come,” Mithali said at the BCCI Naman awards.
“Over the last two-three years, the Indian cricket team – men, women and under-19 girls and boys have been performing extremely well. It is a proud moment as a former cricketer to see the development of Indian cricket.”
Mithali, along with former players Rahul Dravid and Roger Binny, was awarded the Colonel CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award during BCCI’s annual event on Sunday.
He thanked former BCCI secretary and current ICC President Jay Shah for playing an important role in the transformation of Indian cricket, especially women’s football. “I have seen the evolution of women’s cricket and I have to thank the support of BCCI and Jay, sir. In the last four-five years, the Indian women’s cricket team has gone through a tremendous transformation and it is all thanks to that one person.
“Her vision and determination…she has put in a lot of effort to develop and promote the profile of women’s cricket globally as well. This shows that she is a visionary and committed to her cause,” he said.
Shah’s tenure at the BCCI saw the introduction of equal match pay for male and female cricketers and the establishment of a fully professional Women’s Premier League.
Mithali, one of the pioneers of women’s football, also stated that she was inspired by legendary male cricketers such as Sachin Tendulkar and Dravid throughout her career.
“Women’s cricket had its own journey, men’s cricket too. But we were very inspired by the men’s cricketers.
“I was inspired by Rahul and Sachin because whenever I met them, they would have a lot to talk about batting and the advice and suggestions really came in handy while I was playing.”
He said such interactions are important as female cricketers respect their male counterparts who have achieved so much success.
“I think this interaction between men and women helps women cricketers a lot because we always try to match the standards of men’s cricket. In that regard, both do well.”
Binny, former BCCI President and member of the 1983 World Cup winning team, talked about his journey over the years, first as a player and coach, and then as a manager.
“I was lucky to be one of the players to play for India. Coming from a country with such a large population, not many of us get the chance to represent the country. So for me, representing the country was the biggest goal I have achieved in cricket.”
“The first thing I did when I finished playing was to take a break from the game. Then I realized that I could contribute much more to the game.
“So I first entered the coaching scene from my hometown, Karnataka. Later, I joined India U19s and Junior India U21s. It was a big boost because I was able to impart a lot of knowledge to the younger generation of cricketers,” he said.
