[12][13][14] On 1 February 2019, during India's series against New Zealand Women, Mithali Raj became the first woman to play in 200 ODI matches.

She graduated from Keyes High School for Girls in Hyderabad, and Kasturba Gandhi Junior College for Women in Secunderabad.

[25][26] Raj played for Air India alongside Purnima Rau, Anjum Chopra, and Anju Jain, before joining Railways for the domestic championship.

[29] She was named among the probables for the 1997 Women's Cricket World Cup when she was fourteen, but she did not make it to the final squad.

[34] In South Africa in 2005, Raj led India to their first finals in 2005 Women's Cricket World Cup, where they lost to Australia.

[35] In August 2006 she led her team to their first-ever Test series victory in England, and concluded the year by successfully defending the Asia Cup without losing a single game.

[49][50] In May 2021 she was named captain of India's Test squad for their one-off (one-time only) match against the England women's cricket team.

[51] In January 2022, she was named captain of India's team for the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

[53] Raj was the batting consultant for India women's national cricket team, and has played as a player-coach.

[54] Mithali Raj was involved in controversy with cricket management because of her attitude towards the game during the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20.

[61] Powar, in turn, criticized Raj for threatening to retire from cricket when asked to play down the batting order.

[62] He further accused Raj of "blackmailing and pressuring coaches" and causing division in the team during the recently concluded World T20.

[73] After the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures acquired the rights to make a feature film of Raj's life.

"[75] However, finally Taapsee Pannu was cast in the role of Mithali Raj in a biopic titled Shabaash Mithu.