The skipper of Indian Women’s Cricket team revealed that she wanted to leave cricket in 2009 but post the World Cup in Australia later that year convinced herself to change the decision as the fortunes of the women cricket started changing.
While talking to ESPN Cricinfo, the only batter in world cricket to score 6000 runs in ODI’s said, “I thought I would give it a shot up until the 2009 World Cup and then quit after that. But then I realized that 2009 was the time when people started to watch women’s cricket because it was the first World Cup which was televised. It generated a lot of awareness among people. So I thought if I have already sacrificed so much to come so far, I should push a little more.”
Raj had first played for India way back in 1999 when very few people were aware of women’s cricket. She had come a long and is truly the face of women’s cricket in a country of 1.2 billion. When asked what motivated her for so long, she said that the sacrifices of her parents and their keen support made her strong during her fall out.
She was also heard saying how her parents faced criticism from other members of the family, however, they have always motivated her to play her own game and never listen to what others had to say.
Raj had earlier endured the pain of losing a world cup final back in 2005 against Australia. She is a true personification of strength which is evident from the way she leads her team. She had inspired a lot of young girls in India to take up the game and is the main reason behind India’s changing fortunes in women’s cricket.