Ace cricketer Mithali Raj announced her retirement from all formats of the game on Wednesday, June 8. The Indian Women’s ODI and Test team captain’s life and the journey will be told through the Bollywood film Shabaash Mithu, which stars Taapsee Pannu as the titular character. Last December, when the cricketer received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the actress couldn’t hold her excitement. Mithali became the first-ever Indian woman cricketer to receive the honour.
She had posted a video of the Women’s cricket team captain being bestowed the honour by President Ram Nath Kovind, and tweeted, “Just by hearing this exhaustingly long introduction of her accolades I feel she actually deserves a series made on her, not just a film.” She added: “So inspiring.”
Watch:
Just by hearing this exhaustingly long introduction of her accolades I feel she actually deserve a series made on her n not just a film 😁 so so inspiring @M_Raj03 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾#WomanInBlue 🙏🏽 #KhelRatnaAward pic.twitter.com/PszJZXKbIi
— taapsee pannu (@taapsee) November 13, 2021
During a recent interaction with Mithali held by Femina, Taapsee revealed what made her choose the film. She said, “I think it was more like the film chose me. I also wanted to do this because very little has been spoken about something that required so much struggle to reach where it has. When we call ourselves a cricket-loving nation, do we mean only a men’s-cricket-loving nation? Or a cricket-regardless-of-the-gender-loving nation? These were the questions that I wanted to raise, and this film became a medium for that.”
Meanwhile, Mithali Raj, in her career that spanned 23 years, donned the Indian jersey 333 times and amassed a total of 10868 runs at an average of 46.64. Her retirement news left cricket fans heartbroken but they stood by her decision.
Shabaash Mithu directed by Srijit Mukherji will release on July 15.
