Belief Of Not Being Less Than Anyone Took Me To Top Level, Says Jhulan Goswami

Legendary India fast bowler Jhulan Goswami has said that her belief of not being less than anyone and intent to compete and win over teams has been one of the reasons for her reaching to the top level and then taking women's cricket to great heights.

Considered as one of the greatest fast bowlers to have ever played the game, Jhulan represented India in 12 Tests, 204 ODIs and 68 T20Is, picking 355 wickets across formats, the most by any bowler in women's international cricket. In ODIs, she picked 255 wickets, a record in women's international cricket.

"When I started playing cricket, if anyone hit a six or went for boundaries on my ball, then people used to tease me a lot. Because they were like, 'You bought these girls to play. It's not going to work. We'll win anyways'.

I used to think that I wasn't lesser than them and I could go against them and win. My takeaway is if you believe in your inner instinct then definitely, with honesty and dedication, you can reach that place," said Jhulan in the latest episode of CRED's The Long Game series.

It is well documented that Jhulan used to travel from her hometown Chakdha to Kolkata for cricketing practice. Now she has revealed about almost giving up the sport if not for her coach Sapan Sadhu.

"Mr. Sapan Sadhu sir is my coach till today and I remember telling him that it's difficult for me to continue. The first problem is coming from Chakdha to Kolkata and the second is that cricket is an expensive sport and I came from a middle class family.

It was a burden to my family. He said, ‘Give me two years. I will take care of everything she needs.' He had just one condition - that I shouldn't miss even one practice in those two years," she said.

Jhulan and Mithali Raj, the batting legend of Indian women's cricket, have had great camaraderie. The duo were involved in a brilliant 157 runs stand in Taunton for the seventh wicket, with Mithali making 214 against England.

"In 2002, we were playing a test match at Taunton. Mithali was batting at 100 odd runs. I had just come down as the seventh batter and she was very tired. And those days, she used to use very heavy bats. I told her to stay there, that I am with her and I will give her full support.

After a certain time, she scored 150 plus and again said that her arms were feeling numb. I told her ‘Mithali look at that flag. We have to do it for our country'. She scored 200 plus runs and our partnership became a 7th wicket record partnership," recalled Jhulan.

Jhulan played for India in five Women's ODI World Cups -- 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2022. She remains the leading wicket-taker in the history of the Women's Cricket World Cups with 43 scalps.

Asked about her style of leadership, she explained, "You have to do a lot of communication as the leader. That is the most important thing. If you don't know your teammates, what emotional state they are in, what mental state they are in, technically whether they feel any different, whether they are feeling nervous."

All these things you have to know as a leader. What you are doesn't matter, but how you give that comfort to your teammates, that is important."

Asked about her style of leadership, she explained, "You have to do a lot of communication as the leader. That is the most important thing. If you don't know your teammates, what emotional state they are in, what mental state they are in, technically whether they feel any different, whether they are feeling nervous."

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