New Delhi: Before going into her final international game, legendary pacer Jhulan Goswami addressed the media in a virtual press conference. She talked about her favourite memories and regrets from a 20-year-long career. She stated that not being able to win a World Cup is her biggest regret and every Indian cricket fan also wanted to see the cup in the hands of Jhulan and Mithali Raj.
Talking about her retirement she said that she was thinking every series to be her last, especially with Covid-19 postponing cricket to 2021. She also opened up about going through a lot of injuries and the rehab in NCA to make a comeback in England. Talking about her biggest regret, she said, “If we would have won one of those (two World Cup finals), it would have been great for Team India and women’s cricket.” Unfortunately, we played three finals including T20 but were not able to win the final. It has hurt feelings and that is one regret,” she added.
The pacer also rekindled a lot of memories from her successful career. Talking about her start she told that she used to undertake a two-and-a-half-hour one-way train journey from Chakdaha, train and go back home. She stated that getting her cap from the then captain Anjum Chopra and bowling her first over for India were the most important moments in her life. She added, “As a ball girl in the 1997 Women’s World Cup, I saw the final at Eden Gardens between Australia and New Zealand, and that day I dreamt that one day I might represent my country. That is how I started and put in a lot of efforts just to represent my country.”
Jhulan talked about being 19-year-old and wanting to bowl fast and represent India, “That desire to bowl fast remained with me forever,” she said. She also stated that as a fast bowler she had to stay strong both mentally and physically, and she took it season by season. Goswami also accepted that being a fast bowler means that one will go through several injuries and will miss the games, but that is the time to fight back.
Jhulan will play her farewell game against England at the Lord’s on September 24. India has already won the series 2-0 after Harmanpreet Kaur posted a massive 143*(111) and Renuka Thakur took four wickets in the second game. Jhulan has picked a total of 353 wickets in the international arena.
