Mithali Raj becomes first female cricketer to win Wisden India Cricketers of the Year recognition
Mithali Raj, the captain of the India Women’s cricket team, was honoured to be recognised as one of the six Wisden India Cricketers of the Year for 2015. She is the first female cricketer to win the award, and is part of a list consisting of Ajinkya Rahane, Rishi Dhawan, Angelo Mathews, Umar Akmal and Mominul Haque.
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year awards represent a tradition that dates back to 1889, making this the oldest individual award in cricket. The selection of the awardees is by whim of being editor. Excellence in the previous English summer is the major criterion for inclusion, the other being that no one can be chosen more than once.
Raj told Wisden India on the occasion, “It’s a nice gesture and being a first-timer means that you have done something and reached somewhere that nobody has done before. It makes one feel very happy for working so hard for all these years.”
Difficult because we don’t play regularly: Raj
Raj was in charge of the Indian team that won a famous four-wicket victory in Wormsley over the English team in August 2014, in what was India’s first four-day assignment in eight years. The home team won the subsequent ODI series, but Raj went on in the series to become the second-highest run-getter in the history of ODI cricket, behind only Charlotte Edwards.
“I had a very young and raw side with a whole lot of debutants. It was a huge challenge as a captain,” she said.
“It added a lot of responsibility, knowing that you don’t have many supporting players for the Test and the team is looking up to you. I was myself playing after eight long years. Initially it was tough to prepare for the longer format after such a gap, as we don’t play on a regular basis.”
On the back cover of the Wisden Almanack having a photo of her winning Test team, the 32-year-old captain said, “It’s nice to get featured. With so much being written about men’s cricket in the World Cup year, to find something being mentioned about women’s cricket feels very good.
“The girls put in as much effort as the men cricketers do. At some level, every woman cricketer wants to be recognised for their efforts.”