Xtra Time Web Desk: Legendary Indian Woman Cricketer Jhulan Goswami will going to play her last International Match on Saturday at Lord’s against England. Ahead of her farewell match, Jhulan Goswami had a heartfelt conversation in the press conference regarding her retirement and recalled several memories down the lane.
It was an extraordinary career of 20 years for Jhulan Goswami. About her long career, she said “When I started my career, I have never thought about playing for such a long time. It was a great experience and every moment I have learnt a lot many things. In my Under 19 days, me and Mithali, we have played together. We have great relations both on and off the field. We believe that we can change the face of women’s cricket and we can be in the top 3 or 4 among the women’s teams in the world. It was not a one day process. There were lots of ups and downs but we always believed in our own ability. It was a great team atmosphere in the dressing and we enjoyed it a lot. I’m very fortunate to have played this sport. I had a great time.”
Jhulan is famous by the name Chakdah Express. She narrated her journey from Chakdah to Kolkata in the press conference. “Coming from Chakdah, I did not know anything about women’s cricket and how to pursue it professionally this sport. But I’m very thankful to my family, friends for all the support. When I started, it was different, it was absolutely different. And those days we used to represent for Women cricket association of India and now after 2006, we are representing under the umbrella of BCCI, I was fortunate enough that BCCI supported development of women cricket from the grassroots level. They always come forward and support us. It was a different feeling, never thought about it. It was never easy for me to travel from Chakdah to Kolkata for training. It was 2 and half hours, one sided journey daily. But my best memory was getting the cap from my captain on my debut and bowling the first over, that is the biggest moment of my life.”
Whether Jhulan Goswami will play or not in the upcoming women IPL, she clarified “as of now I haven’t decided, because BCCI hasn’t come out officially. Let them officially announce, and then I’ll decide. But at the moment I’m ending my International career. But I’ve enjoyed each and every moment on the cricket field so far.”
Jhulan further said about the current Indian seam attack. According to her, “at this moment India has the best bowling attack in the world. We have the best bowling line up in each format. But yes, we are improving. Seam-bowling plays a big role in all formats. We are getting a lot of quality bowlers in our team currently Renuka Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh and few of them are also there . They are being regularly monitored by team management. BCCI also takes a lot of input and also supports them It’s not an one-day job, it’s a process. Seam bowling is an art. You need time and injuries will always be there; if not a fast bowler, which cricketer will get injured. Seam bowling is a challenge. Physio trainers play a huge role. And I am pretty sure our bowlers will play for 10 to 15 years for our country.”
Jhulan Goswami’s reaction is quite normal before the last game of her career which is also her farewell match. She stated “Kuch nahi (nothing much). Very normal. A very happy bunch of cricketers and they make you feel normal. I haven’t felt anything so far, not until I’ve entered the ground in my farewell game. I’m very much enjoying with this young bunch of cricketers. Regrets in the sense, played in two World Cup finals, if we had won one of them that would’ve been great for us because it is the ultimate goal for us. That’s one such regret I have, otherwise everything else is great.”
She also elaborated why her farewell match will be at Lord’s instead of her home ground. “My last game will be at lords because, unfortunately we are not playing any ODI series at home. This is the last ODI series before the T20 world cup. Our team will represent the T20 world cup and they have already started their practices. This was the calendar already set. I think I am fortunate enough. My first series was against England and I am also ending my last series against England. Lord’s is always special for every cricketer and I am happy whatever way it happened. There is no regret from my side.”