London : Jhulan Goswami, who has become synonymous with ‘fast bowling’ in women’s cricket, will play her last international match at Lord’s on Saturday and the Indian team will look to win the match and clean sweep a historic ODI series on English soil.
Playing a match at Lord’s is the ultimate dream of a cricketer. Scoring a century or taking a five-wicket haul is a different matter, but only a lucky few get a chance to say goodbye to the game after a stellar career in the Mecca of cricket.
Even big players like Sunil Gavaskar (though he played his last first-class match here), Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Glenn McGrath have not got this opportunity. Even Mithali Raj, who was Goswami’s aide for almost 20 years, could not retire from the cricket field.
But call it destiny or plan, Goswami’s last match is taking place at Lord’s. When the 5ft 11in Jhulan walks through the long room where MCC officials will be standing and her teammates give her a ‘guard of honour in her last match, it will be an unforgettable moment in her life.
Having already won the series with an unassailable 2-0 lead, Harmanpreet Kaur and her team will leave no stone unturned to make Jhulan a fitting farewell.
The last time Indian women won an ODI series in England was in 1999 when Goswami did not make his international debut. So when she takes to the field in her 204th and last match, she will find herself quite satisfied.
From Chakdah, a small town in remote West Bengal, to winning the ‘ICC Woman Cricketer of the Year and handling the Indian pace attack for 20 years, she will have fond memories of the last time she goes to a bowl. At the same time, she would also like to add a few more points to her 353 international wickets (across all formats), making her last match at Lord’s a never-to-be-forgettable match.
Even after making her India debut, she would be seen sitting in an open van rickshaw when she went back home from Chakdah station. When she first played for India, Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh were not even born and Jemimah Rodrigues was probably too young. At the same time, Harmanpreet was such a young girl who had a dream of becoming a cricketer in her eyes. Now that she is retiring, Harmanpreet is her captain and Shafali, Jemimah, Richa and Yastika are her teammates.
And yes, currently the IPL for women is about to start, women cricketers have central contracts and most of them are driving Mercedes, BMW and Audi.
Jhulan, on the other hand, has been a bridge between the struggles of travelling in second-class coaches, from youth hostels with one room and common toilets to business class travel and living in luxurious five-star accommodations with reasonable central contracts and financial security. One can assure that even in the last match against England, there will be no loss in his intensity. One more thing and now there will be no more Jhulan Goswami.
