He Did Give Suggestions And I Tried To Put That Into Training - Mithali Raj Recalls Conversation With Sachin Tendulkar That Helped Her

Former Indian cricketer Mithali Raj revealed a never heard conversation with batting great Sachin Tendulkar. She said that ahead of the 2017 World Cup in England, the former Indian skipper gave him some suggestions that helped her to reinvent her career.

Mithali Raj no doubt was the stalwart of the Indian Women’s cricket team. She was the main architect behind Women in Blue becoming a dominant force in world cricket. She was the top run-getter in international cricket across formats with over 7300 runs in ODIs, 2364 runs in T20Is, and 669 runs in Test matches.

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Mithali Raj recalled a conversation with Sachin Tendulkar ahead of the 2017 World Cup in England. She revealed how she wanted to know about having a long career.

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Speaking to PTI, she said: “I still remember our conversation before the 2017 World Cup in England. After a group conversation, I had a one-on-one chat with him. I wanted to ask him how he was able to have such a long career and how he had to reinvent himself to face new bowlers of the younger generation.

“When you have such a long career, every generation has to stand out bowlers, I wanted to know how he kept up with that. As you age, people start talking about your footwork getting slower, you are picking the line and length late and you are not quick on the ball. I wanted to know how he managed to overcome all that and be on top of his game. He did give suggestions and I tried to put that into training.

“I thought he was the best person to reach out to as he has gone through all of that.”

Mithali Raj further went on to say that during the fag end of her career she was going through a lot of things with people talking and at the time Tendulkar was the best person to talk to.

“We did not talk in depth about technique as everyone has different techniques. As a senior pro after playing for so long, all you can help is with the preparation advice to another player and he helped me with that. Around that time, expectations were high for me to deliver with the bat and as captain.

“When you hear people talk about ‘oh she is nearing her retirement’ and you are keen to do really well in that stage and show age is not affecting your skill, that is where I thought he was the best person to reach out as he has gone through all of that,” she elaborated.

Mithali Raj is currently doing commentary duties in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. Whereas Sachin Tendulkar is part of the Mumbai Indians coaching set-up in the same league.

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