Mithali Raj a catalyst in the growth of Indian women's cricket, but the writing was on the wall for her, says former India captain Anjum Chopra

Mithali Raj deciding to bring the curtain down on her international career wasn't really a very big surprise, but it was in many ways the end of an era. In an international career dating back to 1999, Mithali played over 300 international matches across all three formats, scoring over 10,000 international runs.

She also captained the Indian team for a long time. Mithali was and will always be one of the biggest poster girls of Indian cricket and a trailblazer.

In a freewheeling chat with TimesofIndia.com, Mithali's former captain Anjum Chopra talks about her memories of playing with Mithali, the timing of Mithali's retirement announcement, the controversies, the achievements and highlights, Mithali's captaincy style, what youngsters coming into the team should learn to do and not do and also the tough road that the likes of Mithali, Anjum, Jhulan Goswami, Diana Edulji and other stalwarts of Indian women's cricket have travelled which has subsequently made things easier for those who are walking into the Indian dressing room today. As someone who had a long India career and was India captain herself, what would you say is the legacy that Mithali Raj, who also had a long career and was India skipper, has left behind?The biggest thing is she has seen the transformation (in Indian women's cricket) from the time she made her debut.

Both our debuts were close to each other. Mine was in 1995, her's was in 1999.