Jhulan Goswami is one of the most admired and respected Indian women cricketers. She is an inspiration for a lot of young Indian girls who aspire to become celebrated cricketers. Her success has come after years of immense struggle and hard work. She became an epitome of resilience and perseverance with her never-say-die attitude.
Her journey is nothing short of a fairytale. Even after more than two decades in cricket, this pace express is still unstoppable.
Her early struggle
Jhulan was born n Chakdaha, West Bengal. As a teenager she saw Australia winning the World Cup at Eden Garden in Kolkata and that inspired her to take up cricket as a career. But there were too many stumbling blocks on her way. Her parents didn’t encourage her to take up cricket as a full time career as they were unsure about her success but her grandmother came forward and offered her moral support, something that she needed badly at the tender age of 15.
A new movie is also going to hit the theatre soon that vividly captures her life journey –
She took the pain of travelling for five hours every day for her practice in Kolkata. That made her tough from inside and gave her the confidence to triumph against all odds.
Her studies were badly hit because the ground where she trained was very far from her house. She had to wake up very early in the morning, catch the train, walk to the ground, and complete heavy training before again rushing back.
Her unique bowling style and accuracy soon got noticed and she started playing district level cricket. She made her debut in the Bengal team at the age of 19. Her performance in the local matches was appreciated by the cricketing community and she was encouraged to hone her skills more to earn a place in the national team.
A glorious track record
Goswami made her international ODI debut in 2002 against England in Chennai and has captained India in many matches. Under her captaincy, India won 12 ODI matches out of 25. She was also the fourth woman to have 100 ODI wickets and the first woman to have 200 ODI wickets. Jhulan topped the ODI ranking list of best bowlers in 2016.
Jhulan is the recipient of various awards and honours. Some of them include –
- Padma Shri – By Government of India, 2012
- Arjuna Award – By Government of India, 2010
- Nominated as ICC Women Cricketer of the Decade – By ICC, 2020
Jhulan is one of the first few Indian women cricketers who have won fans all over the world. She has always been a fighter and her commitment to the game inspired many young girls to chase their dreams with same passion and zeal.