‘We couldn’t handle the pressure’: Jhulan Goswami says Team India lost the 2017 Women’s World Cup final in the last 10 overs

Women’s Cricket Legend, former Indian Women’s team Captain and world’s highest wicket taker in ODI cricket Jhulan Goswami recently in a conversation with SportsTiger’s show “Off-the-Field” discussed her life story, the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup and Women’s IPL.

The Indian fast bowling legend aged 37 now, has 225 ODI wickets at an economy of just 3.28 runs per over. She believes that age is just a number and what matters the most is the passion for the sport. “As a professional athlete, you never think about age. You just go on with your passion, hard work, and love for the game. You just want to be on the ground as much as possible and that is the most satisfying factor for any athlete. And I am just enjoying myself. “

India reached the ICC Women’s World Cup final in 2017 and Goswami was a key member of the team but it was a case of ‘so near yet so far’ for India as they fell short by nine runs.

She reminisced about her memories and regrets from the journey and said, “It was a huge achievement to play in front of a full house at Lords in the final. We started the World Cup on a high note. It was an absolute team effort from the very beginning. Whether you speak about Smriti Mandhana, Mithali Raj, Ekta Bisht, Deepti Sharma, Shikha Pandey or RajeshwariGayakwad everyone had contributed. As a team, we believed and performed.”

She further said, “We reached the finals and it was the only last 10 overs where we lost the match. For the 90 overs we had dominated the match and it was only the last 10 overs of England’s bowling where we couldn’t handle the pressure. It is a pain but we have to move on. But the 2017 World Cup irrespective of everything was the year of revolution for Women’s cricket in our country. I think momentum which was required for women’s cricket was set up by us. If you look at our team’s performance in the last three years 2017-20 we have been very consistent and only lost in the final whether it is ODI or T20I.”

Goswami also followed the World Cup experience by answering the much talked about question on Women’s IPL and grassroots women’s cricket. She commented. “Our domestic structure is fantastic. We have played competitive cricket at U19, U23, and senior level. There are many girls playing good quality cricket in most parts of the country. It’s not easy to perform in domestic cricket because you don’t know who is going to win the tournament as many teams are in contention.”

She spoke about women’s IPL in an optimistic tone saying, “As far as IPL is concerned, we do wish for the full-fledged tournament should start and we are all waiting for that. Women’s IPL will be a big achievement for the country and for young cricketers as they are going to share the dressing room with top-notch Indian and international talent.”

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