Jhulan Goswami Retires: End Of An Era In Indian Cricket

Jhulan Goswami on Saturday played her last match for India, bringing the curtain down on a glorious career and marking the end of an era in Indian cricket.

 

Jhulan Goswami, a legendary Indian bowler, ended his illustrious international career on Saturday at the historic Lord's as India defeated England in the third one-day international to win the series 3-0. Goswami castled England's Kate Cross with a stunning delivery that appeared to clatter the stumps during her final over of international cricket. Her 355th wicket overall and 255th in ODIs belonged to India. She played a significant role in India Women's first-ever ODI series whitewash in England, which was only right given that she had starred in some of the team's most historic games.

In her last few games, she offered fans a fantastic reminder of what she had accomplished during her career. Her final stint read 2/30 in 10 overs, and when combined with her 1/20 in the first ODI. The fact that she closes her international career with an ODI, a competition in which she leads all female wicket-takers, is poetic as well. Back in January 2002, Jhulan made her ODI debut against England in Chennai, where she also claimed two wickets. Later that month, also against England, she made her Test debut. Even though it was four years later, she faced the same opponents in her maiden T20I. Goswami later participated in the 2005 and 2017 World Cup finals.

Her dismissal of Australia captain Meg Lanning at the 2017 World Cup semifinal will go down in history. The 39-year-old played 204 ODIs, 12 Tests, and 68 T20 International matches before retiring from international cricket.

It marks the end of an era for Indian cricket that her retirement comes just a few months after Mithali Raj, another legendary player from India.