With 10,001 runs in all formats of the game, Mithali Raj becomes the first Indian woman to achieve the feat and stands only behind former England skipper Charlotte Edwards who was the first woman to reach 10,000 runs in international Cricket.

As Mithali Raj flicked South African medium pacer Anne Bosch through square leg for a boundary in the third One Day International between India and South Africa, she went past 10,000 runs; thus becoming the first Indian woman cricketer to achieve the mark. The 38-year-old joined England legend Charlotte Edwards in the elite club of 10,000 runs across all formats in women’s cricket. Edwards had reached the landmark in 2016. Edwards has a total of 10,273 runs.

With 75 fiftees and 8 hundreds, Mithali Raj crossed 10,000 runs in her 311 matches. She is currently the highest run-getter in ODI cricket, presently having 6974 runs. She is also the first woman to score 6,000 runs in the 50-over format.    

“As long as I get an opportunity to bat, it has to be counted and that has given me a lot of experience and exposure to work on my game over the years with the changing standards in the women’s game,” Mithali Raj said in a press conference.

Mithali made her international debut in June 1999 against Ireland. Since then she has witnessed the highs and lows of women’s Cricket and the way it has stood against all odds to reach where it stands today. “I think being relevant is going with the times, women’s cricket has evolved over the years. Scoring from a total of 150 to today it is 250. Teams are scoring 250 and about, you need to tune your game accordingly,” Mithali admitted.  

Though Mithali Raj has not given much attention to milestones, still one milestone she really wishes to achieve is a World Cup win. “I have not really given much of a thought to any of the milestones. One milestone which will truly stand out is if we go on to win the World Cup, that will always be very very special,” she said.

Most international runs