It is not very often that you see miraculous stories taking live form and shape, the ones that make people truly believe in the power of resilience, fate and character.
Like many famed sports personalities in India, Jhulan Goswami – one of the most revered female cricketers had vivid childhood dreams of representing her country on the world platform one day. Her solid passion and grit were her strengths that gave flight to her wings.
Born in a small town of Chakdha in the city of Kolkata to a middle-class family, Jhulan was enamoured from her childhood days with cricket as a sport. She started as a ball girl during an Australia vs New Zealand ODI match in 1997 and the seed to represent her country at a professional level was planted during that match itself.
Since Chakdha as a small town did not have any cricket facilities at the time, she began to commute to Kolkata to pursue her dream.
Her domestic debut was somewhere in the 1990s with the Bengal Team and received her technical training under reputed coach Swapnil Sahu. Goswami did give priority to her game, over studies and made the tough grind a part of the ‘hustle’ mindset.
She made her international debut in 2002 against England in an ODI match, while her test debut also happened in the same year against the same opponent itself. After a few commendable years of highest-level cricketing, Jhulan bagged the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year award in 2007; a feat which was not yet handed over to a male cricketer too and she was the first ever Indian to be felicitated with this huge honour.
Fondly addressed as ‘Babul’, she also became Indian women team’s captain from 2008 to 2011. The fastest bowler in the women’s circuit at the peak of her career, she became the first bowler to take 200 wickets in Women’s one day international category. She also became the proud owner of the title of being the highest wicket taker in Women’s World Cup in 2022.
Amongst the long list of her achievements, one of the highly notable ones is Jhulan being the recipient of the Arjuna Award and Padma Shri in 2010 and 2012 respectively, for her immense contribution to the sport.
Her retirement from international cricket took place in 2022 with her final match coming against England at the iconic Lord’s ground. Post her farewell as a player, Jhulan has been a pivotal figure in keeping herself associated with the game in one or the other form.
She has been associated with the WPL franchise Mumbai Indians as their bowling coach and mentor since 2023. In addition, she also continues to be in the Bengal squad as a mentor and player both.
My Perspective:
Many women today are taking up sports as a profession, thanks to the impact left by their community only. Names like Mithali Raj, Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Anjum Chopra and of course Jhulan Goswami have left an indelible mark for many aspiring females to become athletes and associate themselves with sports. This was certainly not the case few decades ago.
On a lighter note, cricket and films work in union. The two often capture people’s imagination, inspire a generation, and create moments of wow. As is the case so far, a biopic on the life of Jhulan Goswami will soon be released titled as ‘Chakda Xpress’, which will feature Bollywood actress and one of the most popular WAGs herself Anushka Sharma essaying the titular role.
By: Tulika Agarwal
The post The Chakdha Express – Jhulan Goswami appeared first on Sportzcraazy.
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