Former Indian women's cricket Captain Mithali Raj aspired to be a dancer. Find out more about her…

Aspired to be a dancer

When she was young, Mithali wanted to be a Bharatnatyam dancer and even learnt the dance form

Youngest ODI women's player

She made her ODI debut in 1999 at the age of 16 and scored a century

An avid reader

Mithali Raj is a voracious reader

Setting records

She holds the record for the second-most consecutive innings without a duck Karen Rolton, with 74 innings

Awards

Mithali has been awarded civilian awards like the Arjuna Award (2003), the Padma Shri (2015) and Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2021

Youngest captain

At the age of 21, she became the youngest captain of the Indian women’s cricket team

A cricketer by accident

Mithali never wanted to be a cricketer. Her parents introduced her to cricket because she was very lazy