Jhulan Goswami: The Giant Babul of Bengal

Jhulan Goswami

In India, cricket is considered as a religion, a strangely staunch religion at that and one with arguably the biggest number of followers. The cricketing athletes are pretty much the deities of faith and pride for every Indian.

The sport in the country pretty much believes in patriarchal system more than any other. The men are all over the place. The billboards, merchandises, ads, fame and bucks all come to them. Women cricketers are the invisible spirits in a country that worships the game. Such species, however, do exist.

There is an entire women’s team for Indian cricket, which has its own lineage of legends, too. Legends who have their cases full of awards, trophies, records and victories. They don’t have something though, something which is pivotal for athletes to feel complete. That something is recognition; a little attention from not only the cricketing boards but also from the fans around the nation.

I realized that it will be nice to celebrate the life of a successfully empowered woman by sharing her story. It is a story that not only speaks about how hard it is for a female cricketer to succeed in this cricket crazy nation but also about how when she decided to realize her dreams, there was no stopping her.

The title must have spoilt the name already; this is the story of one lanky 5’11” fast bowling all-rounder from Kolkata named Jhulan Goswami.

Goswami is one of the pivotal members of the amazingly talented Indian squad. Although not very strongly built, she bowls with a smooth, easy run-up and has been the lead strike bowler for the Indian squad. Fastest female bowler in the world right now, constantly hitting the 120kph mark, she is notorious for generating movement off the pitch when she lands the ball on the seam.

With a career batting average of 29 and bowling average of 16, she is way better than any of the male all-round performers with the exception of the great Kapil Dev.

“They used to thrash me all around for sixes because my bowling was so slow. So they asked me to stop bowling at them and just go and bat. It was then that I made up my mind to bowl fast,” Jhulan confessed while receiving the best cricketer of the year award a couple of years back.

Having started her training at an age of 15, Babul, as she is fondly called by family and friends, faced a lot of hardships, which included travelling close to 80 kilometres on a day-to-day basis.

She said during an interview a few years back, “I used to get up at 4.30 am in the morning so I could catch the train and reach in time for the practice session. But many times I missed the train and used to reach late for practice; but I never lost heart.

“It was really a tiring schedule, as I had to travel for more than five hours in a day, then come back, have a rest for a while and again go back for studies. There were less time to rest and more time to work.

“Initially my mom and dad were a bit reluctant about me taking up cricket. But I had already decided that I wanted to be a cricketer.”

She added further, “I made this decision after watching the 1997 women’s World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand in Kolkata. That day I decided that even I want to play at the highest level.”

She also went to the MRF pace academy, where she got to meet the legendary Dennis Lillee who gave her a lot of useful tips about pace bowling.

Goswami took inspiration from Neetu David, who was the highest wicket-taker for India in ODIs in the female version of the sport with 141 wickets before Goswami surpassed her.

“Neetu David is like a legend for me. She is a very good bowler and even in overseas tours she used to take wickets so frequently. She is a very tough customer to handle, and she in a way showed us how to take wickets. She is not only the best India bowler, but is one of the best in the world, as well.”

Jhulan Goswami is quite capable with the bat, as well

When asked about the difference she feels between the men’s and the women’s version of cricket, she replied, “Except for the obvious difference in raw power, everything is same. There is no leeway given, as far as rules go, for women. The boundary is a little shorter, and the ball half an ounce lighter to fit into a girl’s palm, but other than that, nothing is different. Yes, the ground-clearing sixes aren’t as common. But the cover drives and square cuts and pulls are all present, as are the bouncers.”

Jhulan’s idol is the legendary Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath, whom she met a few years back during a training session.

“He’s a bowling machine, simply outstanding. Talking to him was a wonderful learning opportunity. He passed on some useful tips.” She just couldn’t hide her excitement about meeting the legend.

She has now crossed 30, and, with time not on her side and new faces pushing for her spot, she works very hard to keep herself in shape.

“Sports injuries are very common and I thrive to strengthen myself each day. Being a fast bowler, niggles will always be there, and they are a part and parcel of what I do. Fortunately for me, I haven’t had anything big to worry about, and I hope nothing of that sort happens in the future, too. I hope to continue bowling the same way.”

She said in an interview with Zee news after receiving the ever prestigious Padma Shree award of honour from the Indian government. When asked about that, she said with a blush:

“To be a recipient of Padma Shree is a great honour and it is the biggest achievement of my life so far. It is a very emotional and a proud moment for me. It was a bit of a surprise first of all as I was not expecting it. I didn’t even know my name was in the list of probables, but it gives me great pleasure to be chosen for the award along with five other sports personalities.”

She has nearly achieved it all on the field, but, when asked about her biggest dream, she exclaimed, “To win the World Cup for the country is the ultimate goal for me.”

Debuting in 2002, Goswami has been the captain of national squad and was the key factor in the historical series triumph in England. She has taken over 150 wickets in ODIs at an average of 21 and also comes in pretty handy with the bat.

Off the field, Goswami is fond of chit chatting with friends, playing badminton, volleyball and watching movies. Her favourite actor is Aamir Khan. Other than cricket she loves Diego Maradona, Roger Federer and Usain Bolt.

The stadiums are generally empty and carry an eerie silence during the T20 and ODI matches, leave alone Tests. The players don’t find enough facilities for training. The funds are hard to come by, and BCCI schedules very less number of matches for women, hardly one or two per year. There are 2 domestic championships and a world cup every four years. The only things that can be found in plenty are tons of talent and lots of time to waste!

This is just so ironic just because of the fact that we are talking about an Indian national cricket team. Somebody like Goswami, who is probably the most popular female Indian cricketer in the world, must be disheartened by the fact that her own countrymen don’t even recognise her outside her locality.

“In Australia and England, they even have their version of Ashes. There, the women cricket is taken very seriously.” She said.

The attitude of the BCCI has improved towards the state of women’s cricket in the past 5 years, but still a lot needs to be done to give it the mainstream popularity that it deserves as per the Bengali spearhead. They have already struggled for over two decades to get their due recognition; it’s about time we start to understand and appreciate the importance of women’s cricket in India.