Five unbreakable ODI records set by Indian Women’s cricketers
Australia Women and England Women have held the domination in ODI Cricket with New Zealand Women making constant appearances in between especially during the World events. India is the only other team outside the three in Women’s ODIs who showed their potential by making it to two finals. The likes of Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami have enabled the Indian team and their players to keep the records book busy.
Here are the five unbreakable records held by India Women and their players in ODI cricket:
5. Harmanpreet Kaur – Highest individual score outside top three:
Harmanpreet Kaur smashed an unbeaten 171 in only 115 balls against Australia Women to help India enter the World Cup final single-handedly. In this process, she became the first player to score 150+ in Women’s ODIs while batting outside the top three. In all likelihood, her knock could remain as the highest Women’s ODI score at No.4 and lower position. Even in Men’s ODIs, scoring more than 170 hasn’t been easy outside top three. Only three scores of 171 and more have been recorded in Men’s 50-over ODIs while batting at No.4 and lower till date.
4. Jhulan Goswami – Most wickets by an individual:
Jhulan Goswami holds the record for picking up more wickets in Women’s ODI cricket. She has taken 225 wickets across the 181 ODI games she has played till date. There is a greater possibility of Jhulan finishing with 250 wickets in the format extending her lead in the list. The second on the list is former Australian Cathryn Fitzpatrick with 180 wickets followed by Ellyse Perry with 152 wickets who has played ODIs for 12 years. Goswami’s record will stay unless any bowler extends her career for at least 15 years.
3. Mithali Raj – Most consecutive matches for a team:
Mithali Raj holds the record of playing most consecutive matches for a team in Women’s ODI cricket. Between 2004 and 2013, Mithali featured in 109 consecutive ODI matches of the Indian team. Till date, only one other player featured in 100+ consecutive ODIs for a team in Women’s cricket. Mignon du Preez played 101 ODIs for South Africa in succession between 2009 and 2018. Players might look to manage workload due to the increase in number of matches played and prefer to miss a couple of games.
2. Venkatacher Kalpana and Karuna Jain – Most stumpings in a match:
During the 1993 Women’s CWC, Venkatacher Kalpana affected five stumpings in the match against Denmark making her the first player to affect as many as five stumpings in an ODI. The record was equalled in 2006 also by an Indian keeper Karuna Jain during an ODI against New Zealand. This record of most stumpings could be broken only if a team has quality spinners which is seen in only India’s case.
1. Mithali Raj – Longest individual career:
Mithali Raj made her debut in ODI cricket back in 1999 and is still an active player of the format. She last played an ODI in last November which extended her ODI career to 20 years and 133 days. Mithali is aiming to play the Women’s CWC in 2022 which could see extend her ODI career to more than 22 years. The widespread popularity of T20 format and the developing leagues in Women’s cricket could make it quite tough to see players remain dedicated and play for two decades.
