Padma Shri came as a pleasant surprise to me: Mithali Raj

New Delhi Surprised at being selected for the Padma Shri Indian womens cricket team captain Mithali Raj says she was not expecting the prestigious honour with some mens team superstars also in the raceHonestly when I was pitted against Virat Kohli I gave up because when you compare us with mens cricket then we think that we may not get it So I was not expecting it but it came as a pleasant surprise Mithali told PTI from her Hyderabad homeA veteran of 153 ODIs 10 Tests and 47 T20 internationals since making her debut in 1999 Mithali 32 believes that the Padma Shri will certainly help the cause of Indian womens cricket It the national awards is a nice way of appreciating your efforts Because at a time when I started playing cricket there was no awareness for womens cricketPeople were not even knowing that womens cricket existed And from that phase to today where people would want to follow womens cricket I think we have come a long way Mithali said These awards will really prop up the young girls and players to take up the sport and do much betterWith this award probably people will be following womens cricket keenly and will take a note of the international calender of women she added Asked about her view on the recent trend of sportspersons demanding their due from the concerned authorities Mithali said that to each his ownThere are some people who feel that they deserve a particular award or recognition but I dont fall in that category I am very laidback and I take it as it comes So its fine with me I have got it and am very happy about it she saidThe veteran batswoman also talked about Indian mens performance before the upcoming World Cup and said that the batsmen can play cover up for the weak bowling Well maybe bowling is a concern for Team India but I believe that they will make it up with their strong battingWe have a very good batting lineup its just a matter of the core coming into form and I am sure that the batting will definitely cover up for the bowling Mithali said You cant really say whose going to be the favourite because we have seen a lot of ups and downs in the World CupI am rooting for India because I definitely want them to do well in the showpiece event she added Devoid of match practice the womens team did manage to beat England in their oneoff Test outing after eight long years in August 2014 and Mithali hopes for more such opportunities in the near futureI am sure with the new format of the ICC we will get to play more matches So that way we will have more news coming in from womens cricket Earlier there were hardly any international series for people to follow or for us to be in news more oftenBut from now with more regular international series and matches things will start rolling for womens cricket Mithali who made her Test debut against England in Lucknow in 2002 said Commenting on drawing a balance between recognition and play Mithali was clear that playing more cricket has always been up on her wish listI am looking forward to more cricket Thats always what I wanted We have a few series coming up and most importantly the 2017 World Cup I am hoping by then I would be able to make up half of the damage what was done in the 2013 editionQuite a miserable one and I would like to make up for it and I am looking forward to that she said The everhumble Jodhpurborn player did not forget to credit her parents for all her achievements and also the recent honour that she cherishes I am also very happy for my parents who have sacrificed so much for me It is for them that I am very happy she concluded