Consistency key for me: Mithali after crossing 10,000 international runs
Mar 12, 2021
Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 12 : After becoming the first Indian woman to score 10,000 runs in international cricket, ODI skipper Mithali Raj on Friday said that being consistent is of utmost importance to her.
The ODI skipper also spoke about how she does not bother about individual milestones, but she accepted that if India goes on to win the World Cup, then that will truly stand out from the rest.
Lizelle Lee smashed a sensational century to help South African women beat India by six runs (DLS method) in the third ODI here at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Friday. With this win, the visitors have taken a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
"When you play for this long, you go through different milestones. This being one of it, the key for me has always been consistency and I have always believed in scoring runs each time I go out to bat, whether it is domestic or international cricket," said Mithali while replying to an ANI query during a virtual press conference.
"As long as I get an opportunity to bat, it has to be counted and that has given me a lot of experience and exposure to work on my game over the years with the changing standards in the women's game and trying to be relevant in the international circuit," she added.
When asked what did she mean by staying relevant in international cricket, Mithali replied: "I think being relevant is going with the times, women's cricket has evolved over the years. Scoring from a total of 150 to today it is 250. Teams are scoring 250 and about, you need to tune your game accordingly. I have not really given much of a thought to any of the milestones. One milestone which will truly stand out is if we go on to win the World Cup, that will always be very very special."
Mithali achieved the milestone figure of 10,000 runs in the third ODI against South Africa. Playing in her 212th ODI, Mithali played a knock of 36 and as a result, she became the second woman to reach 10,000 runs in international cricket.
Former England skipper Charlotte Edwards was the first woman to do so and she is also the leading run-getter with 10,273 runs on the top stage.
