Sachin Tendulkar’s advice in 2017 helped Mithali Raj reinvent her game and extend career

New Delhi: Ahead of India legend cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s 50th birthday, Mithali Raj told PTI about her first interaction with Tendulkar, the influence he had on her batting and how a chat before the 2017 women’s World Cup helped Mithali to reinvent her game.

Mithali Raj scored 409 runs in the 2017 World Cup and captained India to the final. She is the first superstar of women’s cricket in India.

“I still remember our conversation prior to the England 2017 World Cup. I had a one-on-one conversation with him after a group discussion.

“I wanted to ask him how he was able to have such a long career and how he had to reinvent himself to compete with new bowlers of the younger generation,” Mithali stated.

“When you have such a long career, every generation has stand out bowlers, I wanted to know how he kept up with that.”

“After a certain age, people start start commenting on 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,” the former captain added.

Mithali recalled that she and Tendulkar mostly talked about the mental aspect of the game and the technique for the game wasn’t brought into the picture much.

“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.”

Mithali’s off-side play was a work of art but talking about Tendulkar, what she found amazing was how consistently he played with the full face of the bat.

“I was never able to watch cricket like a crazy fan as I was busy playing. I would watch the highlights if I had to watch a particular shot of his or how he played Shane Warne as playing a leggie is so tough for a right hand batter.

“Something which really hit me that he how he plays every shot with the full face of the bat, whether it is his cover drive or straight drive. I especially like the one he plays on the up through the point region.

“On so many instances his teammates spoke highly about his mental preparation. Not only skills, he gave mental preparedness due importance and that is why he was able to stay on top for so long.”

Tendulkar and Mithali played international cricket for 24 and 23 years, respectively, and their longevity prompted comparisons. Mithali stated that she is in no way comparable to Tendulkar’s incredible achievements.

With inputs from PTI

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