India’s veteran fast bowler Jhulan Goswami on Tuesday revealed that she was so upset with her performance in the first two matches of the Women’s World Cup, that she asked the coach Tushar Arothe to “drop” her.
However, Arothe not only backed the lanky pacer from Bengal but also got full support from captain Mithali Raj, and eventually Jhulan turned out to be instrumental in India’s runners-up finish at Lord’s last month.
“I was very disappointed of my show in the early stage of the World Cup,” Jhulan said.
“After the match against the West Indies, I told my coach Tushar, ‘I’m not bowling properly and you can drop me next time.’ But he said ‘no, I want you to be there and lead the bowling attack’,” the speedster added.
Jhulan said the coach’s inspiring words worked wonders for her as she worked over time with Mithali and went on to produce a gem of a delivery to castle Australia skipper Meg Lanning for a duck during India’s splendid 36-run win to oust the defending champions in the semi-final.
“Australia match was important for us. They are the best team in the world. Lanning is one of the best cricketers and very strong square of the wicket. I wanted to make sure to bowl in right areas.
“I told Mithali that I would bowl to her like I would to Lanning and she would give me feedbacks. Luckily everything went in our way,” the 34-year-old said.
Jhulan was wicketless in first two matches — 0/39 against England and 0/37 against the West Indies — but claimed 10 wickets in remaining seven matches.
In the summit clash, Jhulan’s tidy spell of 10-3-23-3 had helped India restrict England to a modest 228/7 but the visitors fell short by nine runs in the end to lose out on the trophy.
Just before the World Cup, Jhulan got past Australian Cathryn Fitzpatrick to become the highest wicket-taker in women’s One-Day Internationals.
(With PTI inputs)
Feature image: ICC