Women's Cricket World Cup: Mithali Raj To Equal Sachin Tendulkar's Record Of Playing In Six WCs
ICC Women's World Cup: Mithali Raj also has this unique record of being the only Indian captain (both men and women) to have led the side in two World Cup finals (in 2005 and 2017).
Sachin Tendulkar, along with Pakistan's Javed Miandad, are the only two cricketers who have been featured in six cricket World Cups. India's women's team captain, Mithali Raj, is all set to join this elite list after she takes to field for ICC 2022 Women's WC.
The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup begins on March 6, 2022. India will face Pakistan in the first group stage match.
Mithali Raj also has this unique record of being the only Indian captain to have led the side in two World Cup finals (in 2005 and 2017). She has stepped down from T20Is as the 39-year-old wanted to focus on 50-over cricket. She has 7623 runs in 225 ODI matches.
"The young talent in the side today, I tell them that you don’t have the experience of the past World Cups, so it’s a clean slate for you, all you have to do is enjoy the big stage," Raj said in a press conference ahead of ICC Women's World Cup.
💬 💬 "It's important to peak at the right time in the World Cup."#TeamIndia Captain @M_Raj03 shares her thoughts about momentum ahead of the #CWC22. 👍 👍 pic.twitter.com/1XiTFDtleb
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) February 26, 2022
On the other hand, Jhulan Goswami, another legend of India's women's cricket, will be playing her fifth World Cup.
In 2017, India came close to winning their first-ever World Cup when they lost to England by nine runs in the final. India also lost in the final in 2005 against Australia.
The women's team is coming off a poor New Zealand series where the girls in blue lost an ODI series (1-4).
Team India for ICC Women’s World Cup, 2022: Mithali Raj (Captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav.