After scoring more than 9,000 International runs and fighting it out for 19 years on cricket fields around the world, Mithali Raj knows that “tomorrow is always a new day”.
And that is exactly what the Indian women’s ODI captain is banking on as she tries to focus on cricket, shunning the recent controversies that have plagued the 36-year-old.
Mithali was presented with the ‘Swarna Samman 2018’ award by Senco Gold & Diamonds at a city hotel on Friday. Asian Games gold-medallist heptathlete Swapna Barman was conferred with the ‘Sonar Meye’ award. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who is a brand ambassador for the jewellery brand, was also present at the function.
Mithali has recently been in the news after falling out with Ramesh Powar, who was the coach of the India women’s team at the recently held Women’s World T20 in the Caribbean. The spat became public after both wrote to the Board of Control for Cricket in India and their respective letters got leaked.
However, a new coach for the women’s team — Woorkeri Raman — has been appointed and the Indian ODI and T20I squads for the upcoming tour of New Zealand were announced on Friday, with Mithali and Harmanpreet being retained as the captains of the two formats.
Speaking on the dais after receiving the award, Mithali said: “Sport has taught me to move on… I have realised that tomorrow is always a new day… Nothing is permanent in sport and life. So the low phases also come to an end after some time. I have learnt a lot from the recent tough times that I went through.
“Also, I have always believed that if you have an earnest intent, you will find a way to emerge victorious from a crisis. Now that we are looking forward, I, as the captain of the ODI team, will focus on how to give our 100 per cent in our next assignment.”
For Mithali, playing for the country is on the top of the priority list and nothing really can match that. “I have been playing cricket for ages… But every time I wear the Indian team’s jersey, every time I walk onto the field and the national anthem is sung, it’s a feeling that is unparalleled. I feel honoured to have got the chance among millions to represent my country. And nothing can beat that feeling… Not even the thousands of runs I have scored. To put it simply, every time I represent India and sing the national anthem, it gives me the goosebumps,” she said.
India’s most successful women batter believes that success is an ongoing process. “There’s never an end to the pursuit of success… It’s an ongoing process. Once you succeed at something, you move on to the next challenge. So there’s never a full-stop to success. The challenges keep changing.”
Mithali is optimistic that India, who were the runners-up in the 2017 ODI World Cup and lost in the semi-finals of the World T20, have a great chance of winning the world title in the coming years.
