An Indian great and an icon of women’s cricket, Jhulan Goswami, on the 24th of September, at the Lord’s cricket ground is set to bid farewell to the great game. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) when on the 19th of August named the squad for India’s ongoing series against England, Jhulan Goswami was back among the mix after missing out on the Sri Lanka series and it soon was learnt that the series is a farewell one for the 39-year-old, strong going legend.
India after losing the 3-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series 1-2 to England, made a strong comeback during the 3-match One-Day International (ODI) series and with a game in hand have sealed the series 2-0. India when head to cricket’s most iconic venue, Lord’s, will look to better their first series win on English soil after 23 years with a 3-0 clean sweep and bid farewell to the heartbeat of Indian cricket, Jhulan Goswami, on a high.
Jhulan Goswami hails from Bengal and the local cricketing administration in the place, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has organised a special screening for the final ODI game that’ll be played between India and England on the big screen. In partnership with Inox Forum in Kolkata, fans have been presented with an opportunity to celebrate the glorious career of Jhulan Goswami on the big screen from 2:30 PM onwards on the 24th of September (Saturday, tomorrow).
If you are in Kolkata, you don’t want to miss this tomorrow – Jhulan Goswami’s last match screening starts at 2.30 PM IST#CricketTwitter #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/ecExH5dtIu
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 23, 2022
BCCI President, Mr Sourav Ganguly, on the sidelines of an event in Kolkata called Jhulan Goswami an absolute legend of the game and said he’s had repeated discussions with Jhulan Goswami regarding the development of women’s cricket development and with Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur as well.
Quoting Mr President, “I am happy for Jhulan Goswami. I am very happy that she has performed very well in the last two matches. The Indian women’s team played well and won the match too. Jhulan Goswami is an absolute legend. She has taken the most wickets in the history of women’s cricket. She is from Bengal, Chakda. I have a very cordial relationship with her. I had a lot of discussions with Jhulan Goswami regarding women’s cricket development. I had a chat with Smriti Mandhana, and Harmanpreet Kaur as well.
The BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly was in all praise for Jhulan Goswami #CricketTwitter #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/UBPIms6L71
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 23, 2022
“I am very happy for Jhulan. She is almost 40. She has had a remarkable career. Every sportsman’s and sportswoman’s life comes to an end. That is what sport is. But what Jhulan will leave is a rich legacy. She is a role model. She is finishing at Lord’s. And finishing at Lord’s is a dream. If my daughter wants to play cricket, I would suggest her be like Jhulan but unfortunately, She is not playing cricket. I wish her all the best.”
Jhulan Goswami is the leading wicket-taker in ODI with 253 wickets to her name in 201 innings with best figures of 6/31 and a stunningly brilliant average of 3.37. Jhulan has picked up 44 wickets in 12 Test matches (21 innings) with best figures of 5/25 in an innings and 10/78 in a match and in the shortest format, she’s played 68 T20I’s which see her with 56 wickets and the best figures of 5/11.
India’s historic win on English soil for the first time since 1999, got Sourav Ganguly stating, “BCCI has put in a lot of effort for women’s cricket. We want it to grow day by day. The whole year, the team has played very well. In the Commonwealth Games they played very well but, unfortunately, lost in the final. Beating England in England is very difficult. And they have done it. I am happy about the progress.”
India bettered their outing from the 1st ODI at Hove and registered a commanding 88-run win during the 2nd ODI at St.Lawrence Ground, Canterbury. The 2-0 sealed series leaves India with nothing to lose at Lord’s during the final game of the series allowing them to farewell Jhulan Goswami without much to worry about the series.