ODI Captain of India Mithali Raj says she is focused on winning the World Cup next year to complete some unfinished business and end her career in a blast of glory.
Twice India came close to winning the World Cup, but the team failed to lift the coveted trophy. Under Mithali’s leadership, India reached the final of the 2017 World Cup Final but lost to England. A year later, in the West Indies, India was eliminated in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup.
“In 2013, when India hosted the world cup, we didn’t even qualify for the super six stages. I was hurt and pretty disappointed,” Telugu Girl Power-Sarileru Manakevvaru said on the Star Sports 1 show.
“I thought about letting myself try at the 2017 World Cup. So I really worked hard for that World Cup. As a player, as a captain, I did a lot of homework. I thought that when we were in the final, if we win the final, then I will retire.
“After playing for so many years, I probably had everything except that World Cup. In 2021 I am going to try again, hopefully with everyone’s wishes and if God wants, we should solve it. ”
Mithali, 37, who retired from T20 cricket last year to focus solely on the ODI, said he aspired to join the civil service before cricket became part of his life.
“He honestly passed me cricket. It did not come by choice. I did not choose to enter cricket. You can see, my teammates, those who have different stories, as if they played with their brothers, and some of them were inspired by their brothers. They played on the streets.
“But (for me) it was nothing like that. My father took me to the academy there, which happened, and I immediately went to a full girls’ academy.
“I was too young to make a decision. If at that point someone could ask Mithali, 10, what he wants to become, he would have said that he wanted to become an IAS officer. Neither athlete nor dancer. I always felt like I wanted to be an IAS officer. ”
She felt that women’s cricket should have been under BCCI for at least five years before it really did.
“Women’s cricket was included in the BCCI in 2006-07. I feel that if it had happened five years earlier, it would have been better. Many talented players at the time, due to lack of money, lack of financial stability through this game, they had to switch to different fields.
“After turning 23-24, parents will ask what’s next. So being a cricket player, what can you tell parents? I don’t make money, am I playing for passion? No one will buy it. For that reason, many talented people had to leave their profession (cricket).
“So at that time if BCCI were there, they would have added an extended run and we would have more players in women’s cricket.”
She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.