Indian women's team skipper Mithali Raj confessed in a chat with Boria Majumdar that Women's World Cup 2017 brought many changes for Indian women's cricket.
She explained the scenes of the airport when they came back after a successful outing in the World Cup 2017 in England. Mithali said, "when we left Mumbai to play in the World Cup there were hardly any journalists to see us off. But when we returned to India on July 25 having made the final, there were close to a hundred journalists at 2.30 in the morning. It was totally new. Since then all of us have been flooded with interview requests. We have been invited to events, have been felicitated and celebrated."
"Today people stop to greet us and recognize us. I have been playing for India for 18 years now and this has never happened. So in that sense 2017 has made a huge difference to our sport."
Raj, who impressed everyone with her calmness in the World Cup thinks India had a good chance of winning the title twice under her, but they failed. She also thinks that the women in blue wouldn't have as much chance in T20 World Cup 2018 as they had in the recently concluded 50-over tournament.
"2018 will be tougher. It is the T20 format and unlike the 50-over format in which we have done very well, we haven't done as well in T20 cricket. But I am not complaining. We will give it our best in the Caribbean as a team. I am not sure if I will be around for 2021 so will definitely give it a crack in 2018."
Mithali also added that she wants to win the cup before retiring. When asked about if it keeps her going, she said, "In a sense yes. It is the ultimate prize in any sportsperson's life. And twice we have come close as a team. I have captained India in two World Cup finals. I definitely want to win the World Cup before I retire."
When the Indian women's team stalwart asked about her autobiography, she replied, "I will tell the truth as far as possible. Will tell my readers about what really happened and share my story. That's what should happen in an autobiography. The only challenge is to try and remember everything. My teammates will tell you I find it hard to remember what happened two weeks earlier, let alone what happened a decade and a half back."
(Inpus from Economictimes.com)
