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Jhulan Goswami is an Indian former international cricketer and a former India national women’s cricket team captain. She is widely considered the best fast bowler at the moment. From playing with boys to featuring in the World Cup final, the Chakdaha Express, as she is popularly known, has come a long way. She is a true inspiration for all young athletes who want to be successful fast bowlers.
Recently, the 39-year-old Jhulan retired from international cricket and received a guard of honor from the players while walking out to bat for the final time in international cricket during India’s third ODI against England at Lord’s.
From playing with boys to featuring in the World Cup final, the Chakdaha Express, as she is popularly known, has come a long way. She is a true inspiration for all young athletes who want to be successful fast bowlers.
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Jhulan Goswami Biography
Unlike other girls of her age, she would voraciously watch sports on television, football in particular. Then in 1992, she watched India play in the Cricket World Cup. That was when her tryst with cricket began. Jhulan hails from a middle-class family in Chakdaha, a small town in the Nadia district of West Bengal.
She was always inclined to play cricket. Since young girls hardly played cricket, she started playing tennis-ball cricket with the boys. Steadily, her love for the game grew, and soon she realized the need to pursue a career in cricket.
It was the 1997 Women’s World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand, in which she volunteered as a ball girl convinced her to take up the sport. She then decided to take her cricket education a step further. As her hometown lacked elementary cricket facilities back then, she would travel to Kolkata to train better.
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At that time, a girl traveling alone by train every day to play cricket was the most unusual thing you would ever hear. But not for Jhulan. Only in her teens, the youngster would travel for three days a week to Kolkata. She would catch the 5 am train from Chakdaha to Sealdah in Kolkata.
From there on, the 15-year-old would then reach the cricket practice by 7.30 am through the bus. After completion of her practice by 9.30, it was another two-hour sojourn back to her hometown where she would have to report to school. This exhausting four-hour trek on a packed train would seem to be burdensome.
But for an indomitable Goswami, it was essential to toughen her up mentally, as she later revealed. “It was really a tiring schedule, as I had to travel for more than five hours in a day, then come back, have a rest for a while and again go back for studies. There was less time to rest and more time to work,” she recalled.
Jhulan Goswami Career
Domestic
Soon, a 19-year-old Goswami made it to the Bengal women’s team. After a promising debut season with Bengal, Goswami paved her way into the East Zone team. And this is where she took her first big leap toward international cricket.
During the game between East Zone and Air India in 2000, Goswami was impressed with her pace and ability to move the ball. She finished the match with 3/13 in 10 overs, against the Air Indian side which included top players like Anju Jain. Post-match, she received an offer to join the Air India team, and never looked back.
ODI
In no time, an Indian call-up followed. She made her India debut, in the ODI against England in Chennai. Goswami began England’s route as he picked opener Caroline Atkins’ wicket. She then caught Lucy Pearson in front of the stumps as England crashed for just 106 at Chennai.
Goswami finished with an impressive debut figure of 2/15 before India’s top order finished the job. She continued tormenting the English top order as well, finishing with the figures of 3/8 in her quota of five overs. Goswami soon established herself as a mainstay in the Indian National Women’s Cricket team.
In 2005, she was named in the squad for the Women’s World Cup, South Africa. Later in December of the same year, she picked 5 for 16 in Silchar as India sunk England to 50 all out. She went on to pick five or more wickets in an innings once again in 2011 against New Zealand women at Southgate.
Jhulan Goswami: Fastest bowler
By the year 2006, Jhulan was consistently hitting speeds up to 120 km/hr. At the same time, Australian seamer Cathryn Fitzpatrick considered the fastest at the time, announced her retirement. Jhulan Goswami was now titled the fastest bowler in the world.
In 2008, the Board for Control of Cricket in India named Jhulan as the Indian Women’s team captain. She led the Women in Blue for three years, until 2011. Under her leadership, India played 25 ODIs, winning 12, and losing the rest. She also became only the 4th woman to pick 100 ODI wickets in the 2008 Asia Cup.
The Chakdaha Express has continued to scalp wickets regularly as she topped the ICC ODI bowling rankings in 2016. In 2018, Goswami dismissed South Africa opener Laura Wolvaardt at Kimberley, and by doing so reached the 1st bowler to pick 200 wickets in WODIs.
Jhulan Goswami at World Cup
Goswami made her debut in the Women’s World Cup in South Africa, in 2004. Her debut world cup went fairly well as she picked 13 wickets in 8 games. She took two four wickets haul- against England and the West Indies.
Goswami was also a part of the 2009 and 2013 ICC Women’s World Cup. In the 2009 World Cup in Australia, she finished with slightly lesser 4 wickets in 7 matches. In 2013, she had a better campaign. India, as hosts faltered and fell out of the group stage. Goswami picked 9 wickets in 4 matches as India finished 7th.
Later in 2017, she guided the Indian team to the finals of the Women’s ODI World Cup final, before going down in the finals against hosts England. In that, she took 3 wickets for only 23 runs in 10 overs to limit the host’s total to 228/7. However, England went on to narrowly win the trophy by 9 runs.
Test
Jhulan Goswami made her test debut soon after her ODI debut in January 2002. On her second test against South Africa at Paarl, she finished with 4 wickets. Jhulan is an equally invaluable player for the test team as well. Jhulan has an average of less than 20 in Test bowling.
Jhulan was not bad with the bat in test cricket. The Bengal player has scored two half-centuries for India in test cricket. Incidentally, both of them have come against England away. As the Indian women’s team rarely plays Test matches, Goswami has managed to compete in only ten Tests over a 16-years of an illustrious career.
The zenith of her Test performance came against England at Taunton in 2006, where she took five wickets in each inning and finished with match figures of 10 for 78 to help India to a famous series victory. For the Indian team, that was a first test series win against England, in England.
That year was marked by another highlight when she won the ICC Women’s Player of the Year 2007. Goswami has 40 Test wickets in her name in 10 matches.
T20
Jhulan Goswami made her T20I debut for India against England in Derby, finishing with the figures of 2/14. On 23 March 2012, Goswami picked 5 wickets in a T20 game against Australia at Vishakhapatnam. She has gone on to represent India in 68 T20Is, picking 56 wickets. While Goswami announced her retirement from T20I in August 2018.
Jhulan Goswami family
Jhulan Goswami was born on 25 November 1982 to Jharna and Nishit Goswami in Chakdaha. Her parents, Nishit and Jharna, wanted her to focus on her studies, rather than playing a ‘male’ sport of cricket.
“Initially my mum and dad were a bit reluctant about me taking up cricket. But I had already decided that I wanted to be a cricketer.” She also has a younger brother named Kunal.
Jhulan Goswami is unmarried. In an interview in 2017, Goswami expressed that she was focused on her game, and she ” can’t devote time to a relationship as I won’t be able to do justice to it.”
Jhulan Goswami Awards
- Fastest Bowler in the world
- ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year, 2007
- Captain of Indian Cricket Team between 2008 and 2011
- Arjuna Award 2010
- Padma Shri 2012
- Leading International Wicket Taker
- Castrol Awards, Mumbai
Jhulan Goswami Movie
Talks on a Jhulan Goswami movie have been since 2017. She said on 19 September 2017 that a biopic on her is in the scripts, the working title of which is Chakda Xpress.
Recently the shooting for this movie “Chakda Xpress” has been started and Anushka Sharma playing the Jhulan in the movie
The movie will trace Goswami’s journey from the Vivekananda Park nets in Kolkata to the Lord’s cricket ground in London.
Playing Style
Despite her towering frame and height of almost 6 feet, she is known for her athleticism and pace. She uses her unusual height to her advantage, generating bouncers. She is also known for her pace and is widely regarded as the fastest active bowler – an incredible feat, especially considering that she is an all-rounder. The Fastest ball of Jhulan Goswami is argued by many to be either 125 km/h to 130 km/h.
Jhulan Goswami Stats
Bowling
| FORMAT | Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WTEST | 12 | 21 | 2266 | 764 | 44 | 5/25 | 10/78 | 17.36 | 2.02 | 51.5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| WODI | 204 | 203 | 10005 | 5622 | 255 | 6/31 | 6/31 | 22.04 | 3.37 | 39.2 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| WT20I | 68 | 67 | 1351 | 1229 | 56 | 5/11 | 5/11 | 21.94 | 5.45 | 24.1 | 0 | 1 |
Batting & Fielding
| FORMAT | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | 100s | 50s | Ct | St |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WTEST | 12 | 15 | 3 | 291 | 69 | 24.25 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| WODI | 204 | 121 | 37 | 1228 | 57 | 14.61 | 0 | 1 | 69 | 0 |
| WT20I | 68 | 46 | 9 | 405 | 37* | 10.94 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
Jhulan Goswami Retirement
Jhulan Goswami played her last international match against England and in that match, India Women defeated England Women by 16 runs in the third ODI at Lord’s to sweep the series.
Jhulan took two wickets in her final match to take her tally to 255 ODI wickets, the most by a women’s cricketer in the format.
She thanked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), and the Women’s Cricket Association of India for all the support on Twitter.
“To my cricket family and beyond. So, the day has finally arrived! Like every journey has an end, my cricket journey of over 20 years ends today as I announce my retirement from all forms of cricket. As Ernest Hemingway said, “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters in the end”. For me this journey has been the most satisfying. It has been exhilarating, thrilling to say the least adventurous. I have had the honor of donning the India jersey for over two decades and serving my country to the best of my abilities. There is a sense of pride every time I hear the National Anthem before a match,”
Thank you everyone! 🙏🏾 @BCCI @BCCIWomen pic.twitter.com/8TWq8SfxDj
— Jhulan Goswami (@JhulanG10) September 25, 2022
- Let’s take a look at how Twitter reacted after Jhulan announced retirement from all forms of cricket
A 𝙇𝙚𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙙 that made us #BelieveInBlue for over 2⃣0⃣ years! 🥺
Congratulations on an outstanding career! Happy retirement, @JhulanG10! 🙌#AboutLastNight #TeamIndia #ThankYouJhulan #JhulanGoswami pic.twitter.com/w4SFVLWLdk
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) September 25, 2022
From debuting vs ENG at 19 to bidding goodbye vs ENG after 20 years! 🇮🇳
Go well in your farewell match, @JhulanG10! 💜#JhulanGoswami #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/Iy852epBTy
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) September 24, 2022
Your international career may be over but you'll remain an absolute legend on and off the field. You have had a huge impact in the development of women's sport in India and undoubtedly one of the greatest fast bowlers to have ever served the game
End of an era! pic.twitter.com/ir2TwjPv46— Wriddhiman Saha (@Wriddhipops) September 25, 2022
झूलन गोस्वामी, आप एक महिला क्रिकेटर ही नहीं, अपितु लीक से हटकर लक्ष्य बनाने और उसे पाने की सफलता की ऐसी हस्ताक्षर हैं जिससे आने वाली पीढ़ियां प्रेरित होती रहेंगी।
करोड़ों महिलाएँ आपसे प्रेरणा लेती हैं। क्रिकेट के संसार से निवृत्त होकर नई पारी आरंभ करने पर मंगलकामनाएं।@JhulanG10 pic.twitter.com/27pGdJFF7L
— RajyavardhanRathore (@Ra_THORe) September 25, 2022
Congratulations on a wonderful career @JhulanG10. Legend 🙌 pic.twitter.com/s1TDWVBAhF
— Shreyas Iyer (@ShreyasIyer15) September 24, 2022
You gave so much to the game and played so well for India @JhulanG10 🙏
We always loved watching you play for the country. As you retire leaving behind a huge legacy, I extend best wishes for the next phase of your journey. pic.twitter.com/ymbxCY9c2A— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) September 25, 2022
Jhulan Goswami unknown facts
- Acknowledging her achievements, the government issued an Indian postage stamp in Jhulan Goswami’s name.
- Jhulan has featured on famous reality shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati and The Kapil Sharma Show.
- In March 2018, BCCI announced a pay hike for both senior men’s and senior women’s cricket teams. She gets around INR 50 Lacs for her BCCI contract.
Social Media
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