Time to build up on the euphoria: Mitali Raj

Mithali Raj. India Captain. Women’s Cricket. That’s the proud identity the game has given me, the 31-year-old skipper tells MEENAKSHI RAO in an informal chat from Hyderabad. Excerpts

You have been chosen captain of the World Cup XI. What does it mean to you and why do you think you scored over Heather Knight of England, South Africa’s Dane, Australia’s Meg Lanning?

I don’t know why they have chosen me over them. The ICC chose me at a time when people had started questioning my captaincy, so it came as a real surprise to me. Yes, it is a huge honour which came to me maybe because of my team’s achievement or maybe because the jury found my leadership qualities better.

As skipper of two stints, can you tell me more about captaining India as a woman cricketer? Aren’t the challenges very different from the men’s team, which is established and has a stable structure?

2005 and 2017 had more differences than similarities. In 2005, we did not have many facilities, we were not under the BCCI and the Women’s Cricket Association was not financially sound. But it still gave us some matches in the run-up to the World Cup. We had match-winning players despite the lack of facilities. I was a very raw captain then. The difference about 2017 is that this time, we were telecast live because of which today, people know every girl. In 2005, my State honoured me but other players were not honoured in their respective States. Today, every State is appreciating and rewarding the girls. All this is because of the social media. Also, as the skipper in 2017, I am more experienced. In 2005, I had senior players under me. In 2017, there are all juniors to man.

What’s the major difference between men’s and women’s cricket?

In men’s cricket, the boys play a lot of domestic matches. By the time the boys get to represent India, they are very experienced. Women have very few circuits to practise. They are much less experienced when they play an international tournament. The gap is very huge. It takes a lot of matches for a player to mature. But then that’s where the challenge of a captain comes in.

Over the years, has women’s cricket really grown at a good pace? What needs to be done for it to become as popular as tennis and badminton have become due to Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal?

Tennis and badminton are individual sports. You just need to concentrate on one or two players and the champions come in. Cricket is a team sport in which you need to hone at least 15-16 girls. What we need is for the girls to start playing school-level cricket. Schools need to nurture the game among girls and not just boys. Even if there are four to five school teams, there can be an inter-school tournament. I developed as a cricketer because of my school team. Unfortunately, today schools don’t have a girls’ team. They need to create an opportunity for women’s cricket to grow and now is a good time to do that.

Where do you go from here personally; you have said the next World Cup will not have you?

A lot of people tell me I am good to go for the next World Cup. But I will surprise myself if I am there. Four years is a long time. I am very particular about consistency, both mine and of my team.

What’s the plan from here on?

Now that we have created so much euphoria, our campaign should be to remain in the top three teams of the world. We need a direct entry into the next World Cup, for which we need to play tournaments and win them to gather the required points. We need to be our best for the T20 World Cup and hit at least the semi-finals. For all this, we need to prepare, reschedule, and concentrate. Remember, we do not have a mastery over the T20 format even though we are a good ODI team.

Has the BCCI talked to you about a domestic T20 league for women?

These things take time. No word on that yet, but maybe the BCCI would be able to create a window for a women’s IPL sometime next year. Girls like Harmanpreet and Smriti have improved so much because they play in Australia’s Big Bash League.

Can you comment on the current crop of players that you captain? And who do you see as potential successor to you?

All of them are talented and have access to facilities unlike us. Smriti and Deepti are young performers but as old as I was when I started leading India. They have a long way to go and have a good future before them. The key is consistency.

It is the first time that the women’s team played under so much media gaze. Is this popularity a growing one or just for the moment?

It can go either way, depending on how you handle women’s cricket from now on. The ICC made tremendous efforts in promoting the women’s world cup this time. Live broadcast makes a huge impact. People saw the standard of our cricket for the first time. It was quite something to watch fearless women’s cricket. We generated a popularity for the sport. But, from hereon, continuity needs to be maintained. We have no series coming up until next year. People want to see more matches but there are none. The BCCI and ICC should broadcast all our matches live.

Did eight years of Bharatnatyam training help you in playing your cricket? Do you still dance/practice?

I quit dance 14 years ago when I chose cricket over it. In the initial phases, my dance discipline helped me build my endurance and footwork.

You are quite a book reading wonder on the circuit. What are you reading now?

In England, I picked up the newly released biography of Nasser Hussain. Now that you people saw me on television reading a book between innings, I have been only getting books as gifts (laughs). I do not know when I will get the time to pick up a book but I like crime thrillers as they keep fuelling curiosity and have some substance.

What are the best and worst moments of your career?

There are many on both fronts. Breaking the record as a 19-year-old in Test cricket is up there. In my own State, people started recognising me, it gave me an identity as a woman cricketer. The 2005 World Cup is another milestone for me because people started following women’s cricket after that. Then there is my first Test match win in England in 2014. That was special because I was leading eight debutantes out of 11 and we still managed to defeat England in England. The early exit in the 2013 World Cup and the T20 World Cup are the two biggest disappointments for me as skipper as they were home World Cups and would have done a world of good to women’s cricket if we had performed. 2017 is special, too, though it’s heartbreaking to not have won.

Why did your father push you into cricket?

My father was in the Indian Air Force and a stickler for discipline. I, on the other hand, would wake up late in a family of early risers. My father used to take my brother to play cricket early morning. He pushed me into going too because that would help shed my late-sleeping habit, which he hated.

Do you talk cricket with your father?

I often thank him for leading me into cricket. My only condition back then was that he should choose for me a sport that gave me time to recuperate in between the game. Unlike hockey or football, in cricket there is time between bowling spells. That’s why cricket (laughs).

You share a lot with your mother. How are your Zumba classes with her going? What do you do to remain fit?

That was only for one summer. She was too shy to enroll into a Zumba class, so I gave her company. Fitness is the main demand of any sport today for a long career. I stick to the schedule given by my trainers both off-season and in-season.

Infrastructure is the base of any game. Does women’s cricket have enough?

We are getting there. The team only had a manager and a coach in 2005. In 2017, the current generation has everything under its wings. We have a much more extended support staff with an additional fielding coach, a masseur, a physio, and a video analyst. Thanks to these facilities, the girls today understand the importance of fitness; the video analyst helps me strategise and we can now review the play and assess the weaknesses of our rivals.

Any favourite sportspersons, idol and cinema stars?

I have had no favourites in anything in life. But many common people and friends have inspired me. My constant inspiration has been my mother. She did not see me grow up. I started touring since I was only 10. I was never with her. But she never forced me into anything. She quit her job to be there for me whenever I was home. She could have had her own life but she sacrificed everything for me. Cricket was nothing in the 90s, even my grandparents were against it. There was no career or money or recognition in it, but she gave her everything for me to become a cricketer. Source: Sunday Pioneer, Agenda,