When she stepped on the field to feature for India in the final game of the three-match series versus New Zealand, Mithali Raj became the first female cricketer to play 200 ODIs at the highest level.

It's a humoungous achievement for the 36-year-old, who made her debut in 1999 and has scored runs all over the world since.

"200 is just a number for me but it feels nice to come so far," Mithali was quoted saying on her feat, "I have seen different stages of (transformation) in women’s cricket across the globe since I made my debut way back in 1999 under IWCC (International Women’s Cricket Council)."

"Coming under ICC, we could see the difference. I am just happy to represent the country for so long. When I started, I didn’t think that I will come so far."

"Initially, my aim was to only wear the India colours, be one of the core members of the team but never did I think that I will continue to play for so long. When you have a long career, you have different elements and reasoning that comes into factor."

"But one thing has been to constantly thrive and change my game to suit different conditions, different areas of my game and trying to keep up with the international standards."

India won the crucial women's ODI championship series by a margin of 2-1 and their skipper is quite satisfied by the win as well as the progress. But Mithali also expressed the need to have a fast bowling all-rounder in the set-up.

"When spinners are bowling, they need more support from fast bowlers. Obviously, Jhulan (Goswami) is very experienced but maybe we need an all-rounder in the playing XI can be useful on these tracks, so on a given day if spinners are not doing well, maybe the all-rounder can do the job," she concluded.

(Inputs from PTI)