Cricket: On her birthday, Mithali Raj biopic is confirmed with Taapsee Pannu playing her role

On December 3, 2019, India’s superstar cricketer Mithali Raj turned 37 and the occasion was marked by the announcement of a biopic on her life and career. Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu will be playing the role of one of India’s most decorated cricket players.

The move has been titled ‘Shabaash Mithu’, and is being produced by Viacom18 Studios.

“On this Birthday, I don’t know what gift I can give you but this promise that I shall give it all I have to make sure you will be proud of what you see of yourself on screen,” said Pannu on Twitter.

Raj is currently the One-Day International captain of India and recently completed two decades of her career playing for the country. She holds a plethora of records in the women’s game and is widely regarded as one of the greatest batters to have played the sport. She has led India to two World Cup finals in the fifty-over format. Raj announced her retirement from Twenty20 Internationals earlier this year.

Raj said with the film, she will get a bigger platform to reach young women who are dreaming to make it big.

“I have always stood for and voiced my opinion for equal opportunity for women not just in cricket but across all fields. I want to thank Ajit Andhare and Viacom18 Studios for not just bringing alive my story on screen but also for giving me a bigger platform to be able to reach out to young women who dare to dream,” she is quoted as saying by PTI.

The movie is to directed by “Raees” helmer Rahul Dholakia.

Pannu said she is honoured to play the role and has already started feeling the pressure of stepping in her shoes.

“I don’t think I want to trade this place with anyone else right now. She has always been brave and strong to back truth and her idols, and that is the connect I feel with her. The way she changed the way women’s cricket is perceived and seen in India is truly a story worth telling,” the actor said in a statement.