Mithali Raj becomes first woman cricketer to score 7000 ODI runs, BCCI congratulates

Breaking records has become bread and butter for India's woman ODI captain Mithali Raj. After becoming the first female cricketer to score 10,000 international runs, Mithali reached another milestone on 14th March 2021. 'Mithu' became the first woman cricketer in the world to score 7000 ODI runs. 

Before Mithali Raj came out to bat in the fourth ODI at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, she already had 6,974 runs in her career. But after being asked to bat first by South Africa, the India captain quickly scored 26 runs to reach the landmark in her 213th ODI.

Although Mithali missed out on her half-century, this match will always be remembered when she became the first female cricketer to score 7000 ODI runs. She was dismissed on 45 by Tumi Sekhukhune. Mithali played the innings 45 runs off 71 balls which included four boundaries.

First Indian female cricketer to score 10,000 runs

BCCI's Twitter handle also shared Mithali's milestone and called her 'Magnificent Mithali'.

Recently, Mithali also became the first Indian female cricketer to score 10,000 runs in international cricket across all formats. Mithali reached the milestone in the ongoing third One-day International (ODI) against South Africa in Lucknow. 

While talking about the world level, Mithali became the second female cricketer to score 10,000 international runs across all formats. England's Charlotte Edwards is the only other woman cricketer who has achieved this milestone.

Bharatnatyam Dancer Turned Cricketer

Mithali Raj debuted in ODI in 1999 against Ireland Women at Milton Keynes. However, Mithali's first love was not cricket. Mithali wanted to be a classical dancer since her childhood days. She also learned Bharatnatyam and wanted to make her name in this field. However, her father who was an Indian Air Force introduced Mithali to cricket as she was lazy and her father wanted her life to disciplined and active. 

Mithali showcased her spark in her debut match only. Mithali scored unbeaten 114 runs on her debut match against the Ireland Women's team in 1999, which is the third-highest score made by a woman cricketer in her ODI debut after Lynne Thomas (134 in 1973) and Nicole Bolton (124 in 2014).