Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022: On a mission to lift women’s game, Jhulan Goswami takes another crack at World Cup trophy – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

“For the younger generation to take up sport in this country, they need to have role models they can follow. That’s one thing we were consistently struggling to do over the past World Cups,” — months after missing out by a whisker in the finals of the 2017 ODI World Cup, Jhulan Goswami told ESPNCricinfo in an interview.

Five years later, in another interview with the same publication, Goswami touched upon the same subject — “To me, it really matters to be able to lift the women’s game in my country, and that feeling has always been inside me.”

With 245 wickets, Jhulan Goswami is the highest wicket-taker in women’s ODIs. Twitter/@ICC

It’s evident that her goals are pretty clear and that she’s passionate about fulfilling them. As India embark on their journey in New Zealand to go one step further from what they achieved in 2017, Goswami, 39, is still bowling like a dream, and leading India’s bowling attack.

This will be her last ODI World Cup and she has one final opportunity to influence women’s cricket in the country like never before. The revolution, as they say, almost always begins with trophies and India’s cabinet right now is empty, although, unlike before, they have come face-to-face with it twice in the last two world tournaments — reaching the finals in the 2017 ODI World Cup and the 2020 T20 World Cup and losing at the final hurdle both times.

A title win in New Zealand would do the sport a lot of good in India. But it’s not like Goswami needs the trophy to build a legacy. That has already been written in golden letters with her massive achievements in the game. In 2017, shortly after the World Cup, Pakistani quick Kainat Imtiaz shared a photo with Goswami on her Instagram page crediting the Indian for inspiring her to take up cricket and fast bowling.

A player from across the border raving over your career and choosing to follow in your footsteps. The story’s eye-catching, so is Goswami’s journey.

Hailing from a small town in Bengal, the legendary pacer had to grind through the setup, surpass the hurdles and create new landmarks for future generations to follow her. Unlike now, women’s cricket had still not reached the masses then. To top it, she was a quick bowler in the land of spinners and batters.

Goswami decided to pursue cricket when she was a ball girl in the Australia-New Zealand final in 1997. It wasn’t easy, though. There were several obstacles. She had an 80-km journey every morning to reach Kolkata from Chakdaha. The parents weren’t sure of her career choice. Could they be blamed? Women’s cricket was hardly a feasible career choice.

Her coach convinced the family of her potential and from that was the start of Goswami’s reign. In 2017, she went past Cathryn Fitzpatrick to be the highest wicket-taker in women’s ODIs. Currently, she is the only women’s player with more than 200 ODI wickets.

Her legacy in the sport is already well documented. There are no two ways about it. But her vision is bigger. It involves the women in the country and making sport a viable career choice for them, one that their family and friends approve of.

At the 2022 ODI World Cup, she has another shot to make it a reality. It’ll be her fifth World Cup. India aren’t the favourites, but neither were they in 2017 or 2020. The team is built on grit, just like Goswami. With her leading the charge, you never know. She’s scripted the impossible before.

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