OPINION
Follow UsA city known for its widespread football field and rich legacy in the history of Indian football, a young 15-year old Jhulan Goswami's heart was pinned on a different sport, albeit the same colour.
While she was undoubtedly a die-hard football fan like most of the people in Kolkata, the kid in Goswami never wanted to pursue the sport, especially after keenly following the 1992 World Cup glued to her television sets.
However, a breakthrough moment for her that planted a seed in her mind and heart was in the 1997 Women's World Cup when she witnessed Belinda Clark dismantle the bowling attacks of the opposition to help Australia lift the coveted trophy.
The journey from a youngster who dreamt of donning the national colours after getting inspired by the women in action at the World Cup to creating a revolution in India, Goswami has witnessed a plethora of ebbs and flows in her life.
While her dream from Chakdaha to Kolkata and the Indian team has been filled with hardships, it made Goswami resilient and determined to showcase her prowess at the national and the international arena.
After graduating through the ranks of playing domestic cricket, Goswami made her international debut against England in 2002 on 6th January in Chennai.
Opening the bowling, the speedster scalped two wickets for 15 runs in her seven-over spell to help the Women in Blue bundle out the opposition for 106 runs in the first innings and register an emphatic eight-wicket win.
While the match highlighted India's dominance over their counterparts, it has paved the way for a glorious day in the history of Indian cricket as the Women in Blue unearthed a star in Goswami.
Over two decades of her journey from being a rookie in the side to one of the greatest bowlers in the history of women's cricket, she has shattered every single record, albeit the title of being a World Cup winner has eluded her thus far.
The 39-year old is the only player to scalp 200 wickets in the 50-over format and has 245 victims to her name in 194 innings at an average of 21.7 and a strike rate of 39.
One of the standout features of her bowling has been the ability to use the new ball and rattle the opposition batting unit with early wickets. Despite her age, Goswami still spearheads the Indian attack in this format and was one of the key members for the side in their 2017 World Cup campaign.
The veteran pacer scalped 3 for 23 in her quota of 10 overs to help the Indian side restrict the home team to 228 in the first innings of the 2017 World Cup final.
While most people expected her to bid adieu to the sport after falling agonisingly short by nine runs in the summit clash at the Home of Cricket, Goswami silenced her critics with consistent performances leading up to the upcoming mega event.
With an aim to have the last chance of winning the title, Goswami decided to retire from the shortest format of the game in 2018 to focus all her attention and energies on ODI cricket.
She vowed to keep up with the grind and churned out consistent performances for Bengal and the national side in recent times to lead the Indian bowling attack in yet another world event.
Despite the pandemic derailing most of the tournaments, she kept going through gruelling hours of sessions to keep herself fit and help the Indian team in their bid to create history in the southern hemisphere.
It would be an understatement to say that she has single-handedly shouldered the bulk of the responsibility of the Indian side with the ball ever since her debut.
In a week's time, as Goswami sets foot at the Bay Oval for the inaugural match against Pakistan, carrying a billion hopes, she would be itching to fulfill a dream of a young girl on the sidelines of the 1997 World Cup that inspired her to follow her dream.
