Not getting a hand on the World Cup trophy hurts Mithali Raj

“That really hurts, for me so many years Jhulan (Goswami) and I have played 4-5 World Cups, ODIs and T20Is but never could get our hands on the trophies. Yeah, that is something I want to give it a best shot in 2021,” said Mithali, who hopes that the mega extravaganza is held as scheduled in February-March next year and that the Covid-19 crisis eases out before the quadrennial showpiece event.

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Mithali Raj made her World Cup debut in the 2000 World Cup and has come close to winning the coveted title twice. The first time India played a World Cup final was in 2005 when they lost the title to Australia. India had another opportunity in the 2017 edition, but this time they were beaten by England in a closely-fought final at Lord's. Mithali was the captain both times.

With COVID-19 the whole sporting world has come to a standstill. India’s tour of England in June-July has also been postponed due to the same and Mithali hopes the crisis eases out soon and India get to play a couple of series in the lead up to the World Cup in New Zealand.

“I think the last ODI series that we played was way back in November. I was looking forward to the England tour in June-July. That would have been a good tour for India to come back into the ODI format,” she said. “Nevertheless, you can’t really predict. Such things (COVID-19 crisis) can happen.

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“However, being optimistic, I think this is a good time to work on my strength. Maybe, when you see me playing the World Cup, maybe I am a little faster than I was in 2017. You can add that line in the commentary box,” she said jokingly.

“Let’s be hopeful and optimistic that we might get a couple of series before the World Cup. If things improve and that is what I keep praying every day,” Mithali concluded.