Know Who Are The 3 Pillars Of Indian Women Cricket Team

It would not be wrong to say that there was a time when India’s Women's cricket team was not considered as one of the strongest teams in the world. But today they have been known among the best teams who have won 7 Asia Cup titles out of 8 events. However, the growth of the Women's cricket team would not possible without some of the main players who have represented the game to the next level in international cricket. Through this article, we are going to read about 3 pillars of the Women's cricket team.

1. Mithali Raj

Sachin Tendulkar was one of the main reasons why Indians watched cricket during the late 90s and 20s era, as he has taken Indian cricket to the next level with his impeccable skills and devotion to the nation. Scoring 100 hundred is not everyone’s cup of tea but the Master Blaster has made it possible in his 24-year career. Just like that, when the game of cricket Evolved and emphasis started to be placed on Women's cricket Mithali Raj stood as a pillar to take women's cricket forward whether as captain or as a talented batter, she did everything for the nation from 1999 to 2022.

We are comparing her to the great Sachin Tendulkar because she is the leading run-scorer in Women’s international cricket for which she has received several major international awards in her cricket career from Padma Shree to Arjun Award and Major Dhyan Chandra Khel Ratna in 2021.

Her records and achievement show her as one of the best women cricketers from the Indian cricket team. Not only that! She is also the only female cricketer to surpass 7,000 runs in Women's One Day International (WODI) matches.  Apart from that, She is the first player to score seven consecutive 50s in ODIs. She also holds the record for most half-centuries in WODIs.

Mithali Raj has played a total of 333 matches in her international career, where she has scored 10868 runs.

2. Jhulan Goswami

On number 2, we have former women’s Cricketer, Jhulan Goswami, who was India’s one of the fastest bowlers and highest wicket-takers in women's ODI history. Goswami represented the Indian Women's cricket team from 2002 to 2022 as a right-arm medium-fast bowler and right-handed batter. 

Jhulan Goswami was also known as “The Chakdaha Express” in international cricket due to her sheer pace and accuracy. The right-arm fast bowler has played a total of  204 ODI matches before her retirement from international cricket in 2022, taking 255 wickets, and holds the record for taking the most number of wickets in Women's One Day International cricket.

For his incredible contribution, she was awarded the ICC Women's Player of the Year award in 2007 and the M.A. Chidambaram trophy for Best Women's Cricketer in 2011. She became number one in the Women's ODI bowling rankings of ICC in January 2016 and regained it in March 2019.

After retiring from international cricket, the West Bengal-born women's cricketer is mentoring a Mumbai-based team in Women's Premier League franchise as a bowling coach and mentor. 

3. Harmanpreet Kaur

Hamranpreet Kaur is currently  India’s Women's Cricket team captain and the second-highest women cricketer after former Indian captain Mithali Raj to play the most number of matches for Indian women's cricket team including all the formats. She is the women cricketer who has taken Mithali Raj’s legacy after her retirement as an Indian captain in all formats.

Under her captaincy, the Indian women's cricket team have gone to new heights by winning in most national aswell as international series. Harmanpreet Kaur was awarded the Arjuna Award for Cricket in the year 2017 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. 

You might not know but in November 2018, she became the first Woman for India to score a century in a Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) match and is the only Indian women cricketer with more than 3,000 runs in T20Is.

Harmanpreet Kaur is currently leading the Indian team in the 9th edition of the Women's Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. The Women's Cricket team qualified for the Semi- finals by remaining undefeated throughout the group stage.

Apart from these 3 Indian Women's cricketers, a few more names are on the list who are taking the Women's Cricket team on their shoulders like star batters Smiriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma and Rajeshwari Gaikwad.