Mithali Raj Rewrites History

10 years later 

Journalist to Kohli: “Who is your favourite female cricketer?”

Kohli retorts back: “How often do you ask this to a female cricketer?”

We have timeless times witnessed the chants of “Sachin…Sachin…Sachin” or “Dhoni...Dhoni…Dhoni”.

This time again there were chants at Lords, the Mecca of cricket, however they were different .It was “Mithali…Mithali…Mithali” all the way.

Mithali Raj, the captain of Indian women’s cricket team lead from the front throughout the world cup,being the highest rungetter.Her captaincy was spot on,making the right bowling changes bringing on Jhulan Goswami when Taylor and Sciver were stitching a threatening partnership for England in the finals.She did show leadership of backing her players when they were out of form unlike some other captain’s in recent times. 

Yes India did lose,and it was heartbreaking,but Mithali Raj’s Team had done their job. They have changed the course of Women’s cricket in India.Women’s cricket will never be the same again.

Mithali Raj,the Arjuna Ranatunga,of Indian cricket may not play in another world cup but she has definitely rewritten history.

I think women’s IPL would add a great proposition to take women’s cricket forward.

And yes the chants like “Mithali…Mithali…Mithali” will grow in the days to come.

Anil Kumble - The Legend

619 Test wickets, 337 ODI wickets, 57 Twenty20 wickets

  "That is the way I get most of my wickets. Yeah, it was very special to get there."-Anil Kumble

Anil Kumble was one of the most underrated cricketers of the country during his playing days.When in the team,he was never given his due,compared to a Sachin or a Saurav,especially seeing that he is the highest wicket taker in Indian Test history by a long margin,much more than a Kapil Dev, or a Bishen Singh Bedi. His exploits are no less than that of a maestro Sachin Tendulkar.

Also cricket never got Anil Kumble as the captain of Indian Team,which I believe he richly deserved and would have done a lot of good for Indian Cricket.

So when he was appointed the Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team I thought maybe ,the cricketer has finally got his due,but alas not everything is as green as it appears.

Everything seemed alright,be it his insistence on YOGA sessions or him advocating John Wright’s philosophy of taking the backseat,everything seemed to be falling in the right place for Indian Cricket.

They say performance is the criteria ,for selection,I do not know what criteria did Anil Kumble have to show either in his playing days (when he was frequently criticized by the media for not being a big turner of the ball. He did respond saying “My job is to take wickets not turn the ball.”) or during his brief but effective coaching stint.

Whether it is his squabbles with Virat Kolhi or the BCCI,we have again lost the services of a valuable human being and a patriotic team player.