Pause, rewind, play: When a 19-year-old Mithali Raj scored a record Test double century in England

The story goes that before a 19-year-old Mithali Raj batted for 10 hours for a record-breaking Test century in England, she was too tired to carry on. The second Test match in Taunton came after a long and unfruitful tour of the United Kingdom and the Indian team’s spirits were generally low.

England had put up a formidable 329 in the first innings after being put in to bat and India were 45/2 when Mithali walked in. She had batted first with captain Anjum Chopra and then Hemlata Kala, brought up her first Test century but the match was far from over and she was running out of partners.

But Jhulan Goswami, then a fellow rookie who was disgruntled to be asked to ‘save the match’ when she barely got any batting practice, forgot all about personal annoyance and promised to hold an end to help Mithali and India.

That was all the pep talk needed as the two future superstars – and record holders for runs and wickets in women’s cricket – scripted one of the most memorable moments in Indian cricket.

On 17 August, 2002, Mithali scored a record-breaking 214 – then the highest score in an innings by a woman in Test matches and still the highest score by an Indian.

The innings was not just memorable for the substance (a fightback against England by a batter yet to become the complete package she is today), but for the background it came in and the belief it would instill in the team.

Mithali had had decent outings in her brief career then, but this was her defining innings. She had made her ODI debut three years back and scored an unbeaten 114 at only 16 years of age — still a record. But Test cricket was different. This was only her third game in the format and the first in England conditions. She was not used to playing such long, strenuous knocks over days.

After the disastrous matches on the tour, one where India were all out for 26 in an ODI, nobody gave the Indians a chance anyway. The first Test was washed out and the second saw England get a solid first innings score.

But on that day, it all changed when Mithali showed the glimpses of the technique and temperament that would make her a batting superstar.

She came in near the tea interval and went on to bat all through the next day. Despite running out of partners and the long toil, Mithali became the fourth woman in history to score a Test double-hundred. She finished the day on 210, just getting the world record; one she was not even aware of till a message came from the dressing room.

More importantly, she scored 167 through the day, a significant addition for a day’s play. Her partnership of 157 with No 8 bat Goswami was crucial.

This is how the innings is recounted in the book The Fire Burns Blue: A History of Women’s Cricket in India.

Jhulan, who as a bowler had got very little batting practice at the nets, was annoyed. ‘Kya yaar! Ek din bhi batting nahin dete ho aur abhi keh rahe ho ki match save karo!’—You want me to save the match after not giving me any batting practice!

In the middle, Mithali confides in her new partner that she’s tired. She’s not sure how long she can go on. Jhulan, in her first few months as an international cricketer, suddenly cannot afford to be angry anymore. She straightaway has a job at hand: to motivate Mithali to carry on.

‘Don’t say that,’ she urges her team-mate, who’s around the same age, but has a few years’ international experience on her. ‘You can do it. We have to do it for India. If you aren’t able to concentrate or you are feeling tired, just look at the flag. Even if you don’t do it for yourself, do it for the flag.

‘You keep playing, I will support you. I won’t get out.’

Jhulan’s words prove to be just what Mithali needs to refocus. The two bat on, and on, and on. They frustrate England for more than three hours.

— via The Fire Burns Blue: A History of Women’s Cricket in India

Back in 2002, they were much different times for women’s cricket. The record century was neither as widely watched nor publicised as it is today. The player herself travelled by train to get home. But even then, Mithali’s knock made an impact as was evident by her reception at the station.

“That was the last Test and India really didn’t do very well in the one-dayers, so it was saving grace for us to draw the Test. And the 214 probably overshadowed the bad performance of earlier matches.

“But when I got back I really didn’t think that I would be received in such a manner because I normally don’t speak too much to my parents when I’m touring, unless it is very important to talk to. Those days women’s cricket was under WCI (Women’s Cricket Association of India); it wasn’t under BCCI, so we had to travel by train, where I had a huge reception at the station. It then hit that it is a huge thing and so many people had come to receive me. My mom never comes to receive me, but she came on that occasion. So it was very emotional,” she later said in an interview with Cricket Country.

She didn’t add much to the record score overnight (2108), falling LBW to debutant Isa Guha. The record didn’t stand for long as Pakistan’s Kiran Baluch slammed 242 against West Indies in March 2004.

Mithali would later go on to be a part of a Test series win in England memorably in 2014 where another teenager, Smriti Mandhana would be the star of the show.

But it should forever be remembered that Mithali Raj’s 407-ball, 598-minute 214 was enough to save the Test, and signal a turning point for the superstar.

A positive note to a very poor tour.

An important innings for a batter who was still evolving.

A sign of things to come for Indian cricket.

When Mithali Raj & Co stunned England in 2014, the last year they played a Test