When you are a technically correct player, half the bases as a player are already covered. The other thing is the temperament which as time progresses you improve upon. To have played well and gone from strength to strength you need to have that kind of talent and skill and the dedication and the consistency. She has had all those qualities. That’s why she had a long career.

For me, Mithali’s impact, as a batter, was very great. If you look at the women’ game you won’t have batters like Mithali. For example, if you look at the men’s team, you will have a Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, all playing in the same era. In the women’s game, from every team, you only have one or two batters having such great impact.

Since 2017 the game has seen a remarkable growth. With so many national dailies having Mithali’s retirement as breaking news that’s the progress the women’s game has made over the years. Seven to eight years ago it would have been a small column in a newspaper. She has been the member of the team that has seen that growth. For the game to grow, you need contributions from individuals and that contribution has been there. So, I won’t say just as a captain, she has made an impact as a player, as a member of the Indian and her domestic team, somebody who has performed well with the bat over the years.

TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE

Technique-wise she has been very compact. In the women’s game you couldn’t have survived that long without technique. Now it is power game over technique, but earlier it was not a power game, you couldn’t hit over the bowler’s head, no coach would allow you that. So for the women batters, you had to rely even more on your technique because you had very limited shots. Now, it is changing.

As told to Sanjjeev Samyal