HYDERABAD: Mithali Raj's decision to retire may have shocked many of her fans but one person who is delighted with her decision is her mother Leela Raj.
"I don't know about the other members of the family, but I am very happy with the decision. I am tired because once a person goes to the top there is immense pressure and, definitely, I didn't want my daughter to go through it all. All memories go to the day when she started playing cricket. That time we never thought that she would reach such heights. It was just one step at a time. But in the last eight years I should say the pressures were on. It was a little bothersome and we needed to handle it properly. I think we handled it well," Leela Raj told ToI here on Wednesday.
"It is expected from a long time. She was waiting for a World Cup. That was the only major thing that kept her going," she added.
Leela, who had pushed her daughter to go to the cricket camp when she was around 10 years old, says it was a lot of hard work for Mithali. "To put it in one word, Mithali has been a ‘builder'. She built her career with a lot of focus and dedication. Cricket was nowhere in her life as it just came to her but she worked hard and built it brick by brick. Every player works hard but Mithali has immense focus. She never wavered from her goals," she said.
What does the future hold for Mithali? "Seriously, I can't tell anything as she makes her own decisions. Only when it is off the field that she does consult me. I am nowhere when it comes to things on the field. I don't know what she is planning. But I wanted her to take up commentary especially during the Covid period when nothing was happening," she said.
"After the World Cup, I was hoping that she would be more at home but it didn't happen. She was at home only for two days before going off again. I am hoping that I will get to spend more time with her now but I am keeping my fingers crossed," she added.
Is marriage on the cards now? "Marriage is one thing that I am not at all involved in. It's her decision but I think I will now have to put an indent for it. It is there for any mother to see her daughter settle down. She has sacrificed so much of her personal life in pursuit of excellence in cricket. The amount of pressure she has gone through and the injuries she suffered in the last 23 years is not easy to handle. I admire her for her focus on the game," she said.
