VIDEO: Mithali Raj Becomes First Women Cricketer To Receive 'Khel Ratna' Award

Ace Indian women cricketer, Mithali Raj, was honoured with Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award on Saturday (November 13). She received this award along with 11 other athletes, including Olympic gold winner Neeraj Chopra. 

Mithali Raj has represented India in 220 ODI matches, in which she has scored 7,391 runs, averaging 51.32 in the format. Ex-Indian skipper has also played 89 T20Is and 12 Test matches for India, scoring 2,364 & 699 runs in the respective formats. 

The 38-year-old Indian top-order batter has also registered 8 wickets in her ODI career. In 2005, she became the captain of the Indian side. Mithali is the only female player to captain her side two times in a World Cup final, doing so in 2005 & 2017. On 1st February 2019, during the series against New Zealand, Mithali Raj became the first women cricketer to play 200 ODI matches. 

In September 2019, she announced her retirement from the T20 format to focus on ODI cricket. She also became the first women cricketer in 2019 to complete 20 years in international cricket. In 2021, in the third ODI match against England, Mithali became the leading run-scorer in women's cricket, going past Charlotte Edwards record of 10,273 runs. 

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Previously, Mithali Raj has also won prestigious national & international trophies. She has received awards like 'Wisden Leading Women Cricketer in the world' in 2017, 'Arjuna Award' in 2003 and the 'Padma Shri' award in 2015, both by the Government of India.