After a decade in international cricket, Mithali Raj is faced with a real battler. Sacked as captain after the Indian team was routed in England last year, the right-hander hit back at her critics in the series that followed in Australia by finishing as the top-scorer. Now she is looking to prove herself at the upcoming World Cup in Sydney.
Her figures are indeed quite impressive. She averages 52 from eight Test matches and nearly 47 in 108 One-Day Internationals. If those figures were in men's cricket, she would be considered in the same bracket as a Sachin Tendulkar or Ricky Ponting.
But Mithali has never got the credit she deserves. The upcoming World Cup is her best chance to make the headlines. If she and the team can play to potential, she believes there is no reason why India cannot emerge better the runners-up they were in the last edition of the tournament in 2005.
In an exclusive conversation with Chief Correspondent Harish Kotian, the 26-year-old right-hander discusses India's chances at the World Cup and why she feels the team can win it this time around.
Do you think this Indian team can go one step better than last time and end up with the World Cup?
Last time we had a good two years of international cricket heading into the World Cup. We played a lot of home series against good sides like Australia, New Zealand and West Indies. We actually played most of the teams that we had to play in the World Cup. The run-up to the World Cup was difficult, but it was more of a team performance because every match we had someone performing and getting us through. Our team has the potential to get to the final, but it all depends on how we start our campaign in the World Cup.
But won't it be a difficult task considering that we will be playing on Australian pitches, which are totally different from the ones found in our country?
Yes, we do expect the Australian wickets to be really bouncy; that is the input we got from our men's cricket team. But we played a series in Australia last year [in December] and some of the wickets that we played on were helpful for the batswomen and pacers as well. It was definitely a batting track, good to bat on, as long as the batswomen put their heads down and applied themselves.
The team that went for the last World Cup had quite a few seniors who stuck around for a long time. But this time has quite a few youngsters who will be playing in a big tournament like the World Cup for the first time. How big a factor will that be?
Last time we had quite a few seniors who knew their duties, who knew the importance of a World Cup, so it was not difficult to get the team to go through; everybody knew what they were supposed to do. This team definitely has lot of youngsters, but they are quite excited and very enthusiastic about being part of a World Cup squad and getting the opportunity to do something at a World Cup.
As senior players we also do have the added responsibility of taking the team along, apart from each one of us doing our individual bit towards the team. But, as seniors, we need to get them together.
Obviously, we don't want to go into a World Cup thinking low about the team. We are very positive and had some good practice matches, which should give us confidence.
As you said earlier, the team that finished runners-up in the last World Cup had a lot of international matches heading into the tournament. But this time things are not the same. Do you think India could have done with more practice matches since the team had no matches scheduled from December last year till the World Cup in March?
We did have the England tour last year followed by the Australia tour just a couple of months back. But it turned out to be a disastrous series since we didn't manage to win even a single ODI on both the tours. It did bring down our confidence as a team and after that we never had any camp then. We just had one conditioning camp last month in Bangalore, but there we concentrated more on our fitness.
However, we can take positives from that Australia tour. We did get a chance to play on some of the grounds that we would get to play on during the World Cup. Also, during our domestic season some of the girls who didn't perform well in both the tours managed to get their form back by scoring some runs. So that is something to look forward to and build up on. As a team, it is going to be important how we utilise the practice games before the World Cup.
You were stripped off captaincy after the England series, but bounced back with a good showing in Australia, where you finished as the top scorer with 162 runs. Did it help not having the extra burden of captaincy?
Whether I lead or not, as a top order batsman I feel people expect a lot from me. I also expect that I do get runs and justify my place in the side as a top order batsman. It is important for me, no matter whether I lead or not, that I continue my form even in the World Cup. It is important that you get runs because people look up to you, and the team also expects you to get runs being a senior member of the side. It was definitely good that I got runs but nobody wants to be on the losing side.
Even in England when I was leading in my last series I got runs and was the highest run-getter in the series. So it doesn't really matter whether I am the captain or not. It did not really matter to me that there was extra burden.
But did you help new captain Jhulan Goswami in Australia? How did you contribute?
She sometimes did come up to me for suggestions. I also went up to her sometimes when I felt that something needs to be done or changed. But, ultimately, it is up to the captain to decide whether she wants to accept a suggestion or not. But, as a senior member of the team, I will always give suggestions for the betterment of the team, whenever I can come up with any.
India-Pakistan contests have always been huge in both countries. Your first match in the World Cup is also against Pakistan. How big a match is that?
In women's cricket, Pakistan started late and they are not as strong. We have played them in the Asia Cup for the last 2-3 years and we have been beating them comprehensively every time we played. I don't think it should make that kind of a rivalry in women's cricket, because their standard is still not up to that level where you can say India-Pakistan in women's cricket is a big game just like the men's.
Does the Indian and Pakistani team get along well on the field or are these clashes like in the men's game?
India is in the international circuit for a long time, so we have a few big names which they are aware of. They know that we are one of the top four sides in the World Cup, so they might not try and do anything. Even off the field we try and catch up because we have some friends in their team.
But do you witness sledging or verbal clashes when playing teams like Australia and England, because their men's teams use those tactics quite regularly?
I think there is a wrong notion about sledging in women's cricket; I personally haven't come across it. But since it is at the international level you try to distract the opposition batswomen if you want to get them out; it is more of a mind game than skill. Sometimes to distract the opposition you try and talk to your team-mate, but I don't think that comes under sledging.
You ever tried sledging or distracting someone?
No, I have never tried it; I am very mild on the field (laughs).
What is your take on the other two opponents in your group in the World Cup -- Sri Lanka and England?
England is definitely a strong team in our group. We have played Sri Lanka and Pakistan recently in the Asia Cup so we should not have much of a problem against them. But you do get surprises sometimes in a World Cup, so we do not want to take chances and will go out and give our best.
You had said last month that you wanted to talk to Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and take tips from them. Did you actually get the chance to talk to them when you came face to face with them at the BCCI awards function?
No, I didn't say that I wanted to meet them. Actually, there was a question that was put to me asking whether I would like to take tips from Dhoni or Tendulkar, and I said yes. After all, who would not want to take tips from them; they have played such a high level of cricket. If I happen to bump into them I might just take a tip or two.
The men's team flopped in their last World Cup, in 2007. Do you think you will be able to better their showing?
I don't know about the men's team, but we will definitely strive to do well. We will try and do better than we what we did last time. We lost in the final last time, so this time we will definitely try and win the World Cup. That is our goal, but we will need to work on the process required to achieve that goal. We need to play well in the group stages, as this time we don't have the semis. We will have to top the group to make it to the final.
Photographs: N Reuben Varghese
