Mithali Raj draws inspiration from her parents' sacrifices

The skipper of the Indian Women’s cricket team, Mithali Raj is a source of inspiration to many. Time and again, she’s proved her mettle and silenced critics with her outstanding captaincy and batting. She’s on the verge of creating history as India take on England in the finals of the ICC Women’s World Cup on Sunday, at the regal Lord’s.

If India lift the World Cup, Raj’s name is sure to be etched in gold alongside the previous World Cup winning captains, Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni. However, the gritty and passionate cricketer recently revealed in an interview that she’d been on the verge of retiring from the game, way back in the year 2009.

Mithali Raj is motivated when she looks back on her parents’ struggle

Speaking to ESPNCricInfo, Raj elaborated on her thought process in 2009, when she’d almost quit international cricket. Looking back on what made the 34-year old go back on her decision, she said, “When you have a long career, you do go through ups and downs. I really thought I would quit after the 2009 World Cup, but then 2009 was the year when people started recognising women’s cricket around the globe.”

“After all, that was the first world cup where matches were televised. Then I thought if I’ve sacrificed so much, I should push a little bit more. And what motivated me was my parents’ struggle and the amount of negativity they had gone through. So whenever I think of giving up, I remember the sacrifices they have made. And then I get all-the-more motivated to perform.”

Mithali Raj’s journey is indeed, an inspirational one. In this edition of the ICC Women’s World Cup, not only has she captained her side to unimaginable heights, but has also led from the front with the bat. She is the leading run-scorer in the ongoing championship, with a century against New Zealand in a virtual quarter-final. She also attained a new milestone recently as she became the leading run-scorer in the history of Women’s One-Day International (ODI) cricket with 6028 runs in 183 matches.