Mithali Raj was born on 3 December 1982 in Jodhpur.

Mithali's Mother tongue is Tamil, her

father is Dorai Raj, who was an Airman in the Indian Air Force, and mother is Leela Raj.
Mithali started to play the game at the age of 10 and at the age of 17, she was picked for the
Indian team. Her ODI debut was against Ireland at Milton Keynes in the year 1999. She lives
in Hyderabad, Telangana.[7] She attended Keyes high school for girls in Secunderabad. She
started cricket coaching in her school days along with her elder brother. Mithali practised in
Keyes Girls High School, Secunderabad often playing male cricketers in the nets.[8][9][10] She
has practiced classical dance for eight years[11][12] and she quit dance to pursue her cricket
career.[13][14]

Career
Raj has played both Test and One Day International cricket for India's women's cricket
team.[15] She was named among the probables in the 1997 Women's Cricket World Cup when
she was just 14, but couldn't make it to the final squad.[13] She made her One Day
International debut in 1999 against Ireland at Milton Keynes and scored unbeaten 114 runs.
She made her Test debut in the 2001-02 season against South Africa at Lucknow. On 17
August 2002, at the age of 19, in her third Test, she broke Karen Rolton's record of worlds
highest individual Test score of 209*, scoring a new high of 214[16] against England in the
second and final Test at County Ground, Taunton. The record has since been surpassed by
Kiran Baluch of Pakistan who scored 242 against West Indies in March 2004.[17]

Mithali was taken ill with a strain of typhoid in the CricInfo Women's World Cup in 2002,
seriously hampering India's progress. However, she then led them to their first World Cup
final in 2005, in South Africa, where they met Australia who proved just too strong. In
August 2006, she led the side to their first ever Test and series victory in England and
wrapped up the year winning the Asia Cup - the second time in 12 months - without dropping
a single game.

She led the Indian team to the finals in the 2005 Women's Cricket World Cup where the team
lost to Australia.[18] She is a part-time leg-break bowler as well. She is a recipient of the
Arjuna award for the year 2003. She currently tops the batting table with 703 ratings. Her
composure when at the crease and ability to score briskly make her a dangerous cricketer. In
addition to her ability with the bat, Mithali rolls her arm over bowling leg-spinners and
providing variety to the attack.

At the 2013 Women's World Cup, Mithali Raj starred as the No.1 Cricketer in the ODI chart
among women. She scored 100s: 1 and 50s: 4 in Test cricket, 100s: 5 and 50s: 40 with best
bowling of 3/4 in ODI's and 50s: 10 in T20's.