Gujarat Giants appoint Mithali Raj as mentor ahead of inaugural Women's Premier League

Gujarat Giants has appointed legendary Indian batter and former captain Mithali Raj as the mentor and advisor for the side ahead of the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL), which will take place in March-April 2023.

Over the years, Mithali's trailblazing achievements and contributions to Indian cricket have not only earned her numerous awards and accolades but have also played a key role in bringing women's cricket into the limelight, both on national and international platforms. As a mentor and advisor, Mithali will also promote women's cricket and help develop the sport at the grassroots level in Gujarat.

"The inaugural season of the Women's Premier League is a fantastic move for women's cricket and the involvement of the Adani Group is a massive boost for the sport as well," said Mithali Raj, ex-Skipper of the Indian Women's National Cricket Team as quoted by an Adani Sportsline.

"Women's cricket is growing steadily, and this kind of impetus will undoubtedly encourage young women to consider taking up cricket professionally. I believe that the high-impact participation of corporates will help hasten the process of eventually bringing more glory to India. This level of influence can help strengthen the sporting ecosystem and enhance opportunities for women athletes".

"Mithali Raj is a role model for the young generation and we are delighted to have such an inspirational athlete on board to mentor our women's cricket team," said Pranav Adani, Director of Adani Enterprises.

"This is the first time the Adani Group has ventured into women's cricket, and we are privileged to be able to promote women in sports through the inaugural Women's Premier League. We believe that the presence of international sporting heroes like Mithali will attract new talent not just into cricket but also into every other sport and transform the professional sports ecosystem," added Pranav.

Acknowledged as one of the greatest female cricketers of all time, Mithali Raj opened her ODI career with a rare accomplishment - a century on debut. Mithali is the highest run-scorer in women's ODIs and has scored 17 half-centuries in her T20Is. In 89 T20Is, Raj has also scored 2,364 runs at an average of 37.52, with the best score of 97.

But Mithali's best format was ODIs, in which she played 232 matches and scored 7,805 runs in 211 innings at an average of 50.68. She had seven tons and 64 fifties in the format, with best score of 125*.

The highly acclaimed cricketer captained India in the 2017 Women's ODI Cricket World Cup, where India finished runners-up. She was also part of the Indian team that made it to the semi-finals of the 2018 ICC Women's World T20, held in the West Indies.