Mithali Raj feels her biopic will encourage more girls to play cricket

India captain in Tests and ODIs Mithali Raj expects her biopic titled ‘Shabhaash Mithu’ to inspire young girls to join cricket. In the film, Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu will portray the role of the ace batswoman and the first poster recently came out to impress the fans.

The biopic, directed by Rahul Dholakia, will be released on February 5 next year. Pannu even wrote in the caption of the poster of the film that Mithali is a ‘game-changer’.

Even Mithali is ecstatic over the upcoming biopic which made her the first woman cricketer in the country to experience the exclusive experience. Male cricketers like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar saw biopics made on them in recent times. In April this year, a film on Kapil Dev’s team winning the World Cup in 1983 will release in which Ranveer Singh will play the legendary all-rounder.

“I’m happy that there is a biopic on my story because a lot will be shown about the struggles of a woman cricketer. When we started way back in the ”90s, the journey of a woman cricketer in our country was difficult,” said 37-year-old Mithali as quoted by Outlook.

Mithali Raj heaps praise on Taapsee Pannu

She said there are many girls who wish to play cricket but feel that there is not much scope for them to grow and the Pannu-starrer will go a long way in facilitating their dreams.

“It will also inspire a lot of young girls who dream about becoming a cricketer. Many young girls have the urge to play the sport but never get to see it on television so they feel there is no scope. This will open a lot of opportunities for them to dream,” she added.

Mithali, who made her international debut in 1999 and has played 10 Tests, 209 ODIs and 89 T20Is to score over 9,000 runs with eight hundreds, said she is looking forward to seeing Pannu portraying her character in the biopic.

“I feel quite nice about having Taapsee on board to tell my story. I have seen a sports drama where she played a hockey player. She kind of has this way of playing a sportsperson. And I think what little I’ve seen of her, she will be able to even ape my skill at some level,” she said.

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