Jhulan, pace spearhead, and bridge between generations, bids adieu
Jhulan, pace spearhead, and bridge between generations, bids adieu: Jhulan Goswami was a ball girl for the women’s World Cup final in 1997 at Eden Gardens, and she was impressed by Australian seamer Cathryn Fitzpatrick’s speed and agility.
After the final, the Diego Maradona admirer decided that she would one day represent India on the field.
After over 25 years of playing for India, Jhulan will retire on the field and play her farewell game at the Mecca of cricket, the Oval. This rare honor has escaped even the likes of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.
Jhulan’s final ODI would be Saturday’s contest between England Women and India Women at Lord’s. With 353 wickets in all women’s international formats and one final opportunity to add to her total tomorrow, she retires from international cricket as the all-time leader in that category.
Throughout a global career that kicked up in January 2002, that reliability was a source of great pride.
More importantly, Jhulan served as a link between the generation that had to fight indifference towards women’s cricket and the current generation of the Smriti Mandhanas, when women’s cricket attracts global eyeballs, commercial space, and sponsors, along with Mithali Raj, who retired from the game earlier this year.
When Jhulan first began, the BCCI did not sponsor women’s cricket. The BCCI has decided to launch the IPL for women in 2023 because conditions have improved enough to warrant it.
It was a little surprise that many people tuned in to Jhulan’s last virtual pre-game press conference in India colours. She trumped the second men’s T20I between India and Australia in Nagpur as India’s day’s top cricket story. The 39-year-old man was emotional as he talked.
Declarations
Over the past two or three years, there had been a handful of injuries. Jhulan resisted them, sometimes even playing while in pain. However, Time ultimately triumphed.
“I’ve been under the impression that every series could win an Emmy for the past two years.
Considering that Covid-19 has postponed cricket till 2021, it’s likely to be my last. Many wounds were afflicting me at the time. I had been working through it in order.
I seriously considered that the visit to Sri Lanka in 2022 was going to be my last after the (2022 ODI) World Cup.
Jhulan remarked at the press conference, “I got hurt during the World Cup and I wasn’t healthy enough to tour Sri Lanka, so I thought I would go to the NCA, do a lot of rehab, and come to England for my last ODI series before the T20 World Cup.”
Even a brilliant career is incomplete without a World Cup victory. Jhulan was almost crowned champion twice, in 2005 and 2017, but India fell short both times. Her team’s nine-run loss in the 2017 Lord’s final was a stinging reminder of how close they came.
Remarks
It would have been fantastic for Team India and women’s cricket if we could have won one of those. Every sportsperson strives for that.
Winning the trophy after four years of hard work and preparation is like achieving a lifelong goal. We were in three finals, including T20 (the 2020 World Cup), but lost them all. There were feelings harmed, and that’s a regret of mine,” she remarked.
If MS Dhoni, also from Ranchi, had an unwritten tale, then Jhulan’s 20-year career in international cricket too needed a movie.
In the works is a project called Chakda Xpress, which hearkens back to the days when Chakdaha girls rode the first train from the district town (located approximately 80 kilometres from Kolkata) to the maidan for practise. Jhulan had a lifelong ambition to bowl at high speeds and she achieved her goal, reaching speeds of 130 kph and above in her prime.
I didn’t expect to play for so long when I first began out. Before 2006, we were affiliated with the Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI), but now we fall under the BCCI.
From Chakdaha, I would take a train for two hours and fifty minutes one way, practise, return home, and then repeat the process the next day. The highlight of my career was definitely bowling my first over for India and receiving my India cap from my captain, Anjum Chopra. I can honestly say that that was the defining moment of my life,” Jhulan remarked.
Statements
She started back at the World Cup final in 1997. While working as a ball lady at the 1997 Women’s World Cup, I witnessed the epic final at Eden Gardens between Australia and New Zealand and vowed to myself that one day I would play for my nation.
That’s where I got my start; I put in a lot of work to represent my country in that capacity.
Tributes are pouring in as she says her final goodbyes. Not so long ago, India’s male team captain, Rohit Sharma, was effusive in his appreciation of the experienced seamer, recalling his time facing her at the NCA nets and dubbing Jhulan a stalwart.
According to what she’s done for India, “I think she is one of India’s stalwarts,” Rohit remarked.
When Jhulan first began, the future of women’s cricket in India looked bleak.
The outlook for the future is excellent now. But will she be included in the glitz and glamour? Once the Women’s IPL is officially announced, I will make a decision, Jhulan said before ending the conversation.