Mithali, playing her 183rd ODI, finished the day with a tally of 6,028 runs.
It was a proud moment for Indian cricket once again when another batting record fell on an Indian cricketer's lap on Wednesday. 'Lady Sachin' Mithali Raj became the highest run-getter in women's ODIs during the Women's World Cup league match against Australia in Bristol.
The women's team captain overcame Englishwoman Charlotte Edwards's tally of 5,992 runs when she took her 34th run with a backfoot drive off Australia's Ellyse Perry to script history in the 29th over. It took Mithali 78 balls to reach the milestone.
Mithali, during the course of her 69 on the day, also became the first woman to reach 6,000 ODI runs. Mithali, playing her 183rd ODI, finished the day with a tally of 6,028 runs. Thanks to her 157-run partnership with opener Punam Raut (106) for the second wicket, India reached 226/7. The total was not enough as Australia overhauled the score to win by eight wickets. With their second straight defeat, India slipped from third to fourth in points table.
India take on New Zealand in the last game on Saturday. It is a virtual quarterfinal as the winner becomes the fourth team after Australia, England and South Africa to enter the last four.
With Mithali's achievement, Indians now hold the world records for most runs and wickets in ODIs. Only two months ago, pacer Jhulan Goswami became the highest wicket-taker.
The day belonged to Mithali, and her feat overshadowed Raut's second ODI hundred. Mithali was, however, unperturbed by the achievement. "(The record) wasn't playing on my mind. People questioned me a lot about it in press conferences, but it wasn't my intent or purpose of playing this World Cup. As a kid, it was just important for me to take it series by series. Didn't think I would last this long," she said in between innings.
The whole cricketing world went gaga over Mithali's record. Former India captain and a member of BCCI's Committee of Administrators, Diana Edulji, was all praise of the feat. "When I saw her first, I knew she had the talent to play longer for India. She was very dedicated and meticulous. It is a proud moment for Indian cricket. It's big also considering it came in fewer games compared to the previous record holder (Edwards)," Edulji said. Mithali reached the peak in eight fewer games than Edwards.
Edulji has one wish, though. "A qualification to the next stage will be the icing on the cake after this historic achievement. I also want her to finish the tournament with at least one three-figure mark," she added.
From scoring a century on ODI debut against Ireland in 1999 to becoming the highest individual scorer in women's cricket, Mithali has come a long way.
She has been one of the consistent performers in her long career. "I knew she would go far. She had the potential and that is why we asked her to join Railways from Air India, where she was on contract. Mithali was around 16 or 17 but the criteria was 18 to get a job, however, we did some adjustments to accommodate her," Edulji told DNA.
The 34-year-old has been vocal about the cause of women's cricket. She doesn't hold back when one compares women cricket with men's. This was visible in England when a reporter asked who her favourite male cricketer was.
"Do you ask the same question to a male cricketer? Do you ask them who their favourite female cricketer is?" she said. "I have always been asked who's your favourite cricketer but you should ask them who their favourite female cricketer is," she further said.
Mithali was not really keen on taking up cricket as she was interested in things like dancing and painting. However, it was her father who asked her to take up the game. "I am more into activities like painting and dancing. I was never interested in sports. I came into cricket because of my dad," she had told DNA in an interview after she had reached the 5,000-run landmark.
"I had put my son in cricket camp. Mithali was very lazy, so to wake her up in the morning, I used to take her along. Casually, I used to play with her there. It was my friend Jyoti Prasad who spotted the talent and the potential in her. After that, there was no looking back.", Durai Raj said in a television interview about her daughter.
However, her mother wasn't really keen on her taking up the sport as she worried about injuries that would affect her future.
Brief scores: India 226/7 in 50 overs (P Raut 106, M Raj 69; M Schutt 2/52, E Perry 2/37) lost to Australia 227/2 in 45.1 overs (N Bolton 36, B Mooney 45, M Lanning 76*, E Perry 60*)
6,028
No of runs now Mithali Raj has scored in 183 ODIs
Did you know?
Mithali's has an envious average of 51.52 in ODIs
5
No. of centuries for Mithali has scored in ODIs, and she has been not out in all those innings
Elsewhere
In Taunton: Sri Lanka 101 in 40.3 overs (C Polgampola 25, D Manodara 25; S Ismail 3/14, D van Niekerk 4/24) lost to South Africa 104/2 in 23.1 overs (L Wolvaardt 48*, M du Preez 38*)
In Derby: England 284/9 in 50 overs (T Beaumont 93, N Sciver 129; L Kasperek 2/49, A Kerr 4/51) bt New Zealand 209 in 46.4 overs (S Bates 44, A Satterthwaite 35, K Perkins 43*; A Shrubsole 2/19, J Gunn 2/32, A Hartley 3/44)
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