Mithali Raj Cricketer
Mithali Raj Hindi: मिताली राज (born 3 December 1982 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan) is a Test and One Day International cricketer who represents India women's cricket team. She was the captain of the Indian women's cricket team. She made her One Day International debut in 1999 against Ireland at Milton Keynes and scored 114 runs without getting out in that match. She made her Test match debut in the 2001-02 season against England at Lucknow. She became famous for her score of 214 runs in a Test match against England at Taunton, which broke the record for the highest score in women's Test cricket, until she was surpassed by Kiran Baluch of Pakistan in 2004. Incidentally in that match, India also made their highest test score of 467 runs. She led the Indian team to the finals in the Women's Cricket World Cup of 2005 where the team lost to Australia. She is a part-time leg break bowler as well. She is a recipient of the Arjuna award for the year 2003. As at 22 Feb 2010, Mithali Raj was the number 1 batsman in the ICC World Women's Cricket rankings. As a child, she was trained in Bharata Natyam, an Indian classical dance and gave stage performances. She is employed with the Indian Railways.
