Three women who put India on the world’s cricketing map

As the world celebrates a day that belongs to all the ladies out there, the Indian women are currently stationed in the hostile shores of New Zealand where they are up against the world with the crown up for grabs.

From being mere expletives in the roster of women’s cricket, the Indian femme fatale has conquered the ever-burgeoning stack of odds and currently sits as one of the most formidable forces in the cricketing sorority.

However, like Rome wasn’t built in a day, similarly it took time, patience, and bending one’s back beyond imagination to allow India to climb higher up the pecking order.

A few names played a crucial role in shaping up the Indian women’s fate as the game became a lot more open in welcoming the women of the sport. As we talk about Indian women’s cricketing history, we will take a quick look at the three of the biggest names who completely changed the course of India’s cricketing history.

Jhulan Goswami

Probably the speedometer flickers slightly on the lower side of late as Jhulan Goswami hares in for her deliveries in the ongoing World Cup but this is just a vice of age as she struggles to wriggle free at the ripe age of 39. If one would have been following cricket for the past decade and a half, he or she would definitely know about the kind of carnage that the seasoned Indian speed demon would bring whenever she would take the pitch. 

She made her debut for India in 2002 against the English women in ODIs. Even though she was deemed as an exciting prospect at the beginning of her career, she started on a slow note. From there, however, she embarked upon an unchecked ascent and established herself as one of the fiercest women cricketers regularly clocking unthinkable speeds. She has been a part of all the formats of the sport and continues to be a driving force for the women who inspire to take up the game as a profession. She has claimed 347 international wickets out of which 247 came from ODIs while 44 came from Test and the remaining 56 came in the thrilling T20s. She also averages a fine 24.25 with the bat in the longest format of the game wherein her ODI batting average reads 14.86.

Smriti Mandhana

If Jhulan Goswami has been the starlight with the ball in her hand, Smriti Mandhana leads the way with the willow. An unstoppable batter with some terrific striking capability played an instrumental role in defining India’s establishment in the cricketing fabric of the world. Her debut came against Bangladesh and that was just the beginning of the firestorm that she would bring to the roster of the women’s cricket. 

She is a seraphic striker of the cherry and provides the much-needed reliability in the batting order. Her growing experience and her hunger for brilliance have cemented her position in the pantheon of Indian cricketing goddesses. She racked up 4809 international runs across all formats combined at a fine average of 30 plus.

Mithali Raj

Hailing all the way from Rajasthan, arguably India’s finest batter in women’s cricket has now been in the international circuit for two decades. She rattled countless milestones as she blazed her way through a maze of unplayable bowlers, breathing fire with the blade. She is also the only Indian player to lead the nation in two 50-over World Cup finals. Raj announced her introduction to the world with a rollicking 114 in the shorter formats of the game. She is the only Indian woman to have achieved the milestone of 10695 runs in international cricket.