A glorious era in Indian cricket will come to an end next week as legendary pacer Jhulan Goswami will hang her boots after the ongoing three-match ODI series between the England and Indian women’s cricket teams. Jhulan is scheduled to make her final appearance in international cricket at the Lord’s Cricket Ground on September 24.
Over the course of her career that lasted two decades, Jhulan played a key role in helping the Women in Blue reach two ODI World Cup finals in 2005 and 2017 respectively. She will finish her career as the highest wicket-taker in ODI Cricket history with 252 wickets so far.
As Jhulan prepares for her swansong in England, Indian men’s cricket team captain Rohit Sharma paid a glowing tribute to her and revealed that her inswinging deliveries have troubled him too when they duo practiced together at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
“Jhulan Goswami is a legend, she has shown lots of passion for the country, it’s an inspiration and learning for all the youngsters in the country – her inswingers has challenged me as well at NCA,” said Rohit in the pre-match press conference in Mohali ahead of India’s T20I series against Australia.
Jhulan is making her return to international cricket for the first time in six months on Sunday (September 18) in the first ODI of the three-match ODI series against England at the County Ground in Hove. Jhulan’s last appearance in the Blue jersey came in the Women’s ODI World Cup in March where India narrowly missed out on a semi-final spot.
Earlier, England beat India in a three-match T20I series. Jhulan had retired from the shortest format in 2018 and was not part of the assignment. This series is only the second tour for Harmanpreet Kaur as India’s full-time captain in ODI cricket after Mithali’s retirement.
