Bengal cricket associatiom to name stand at Eden Gardens after Jhulan Goswami

Sep 24, 2022

London [UK], September 24 : Jhulan Goswami's enormous contribution to international cricket in her career at the highest level for more than 20 years was enthusiastically recognised on Saturday, the day of her last appearance for India as a player of the Indian team on Saturday.
The final ODI was played at Lord's, and India captain Harmanpreet Kaur brought Goswami out with her for the toss.
There were emotional moments during the team huddle with the Indian players seen in tears. Plans to rename a stand in Goswami's honour were disclosed at the pacer's home ground, Kolkata's Eden Gardens.
The festivities got underway even before the coin toss on Saturday. Goswami received a shirt autographed by the England players from the departing England head coach Lisa Keightley.
Goswami was given a brief period of time to serve as the captain by Harmanpreet, as a token of admiration and respect for making the country proud on so many occasions. This small yet memorable incident was followed by a number of photos with everyone wanting to capture moments with the stalwart for eternity.
Goswami's home cricket association in India, CAB, issued their own honour for the ace bowler. Young women cricket players, CAB executives, and members all attended a screening of the farewell game that CAB had organised at an auditorium in the city.
"We are planning to name a stand after Jhulan Goswami at Eden Gardens. She is a special cricketer and deserves to be with the legends. We will approach the army [the owners of the stadium] for the necessary permission. We are also planning a special felicitation for her on the annual day," Avishek Dalmiya, the CAB president, said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
"At CAB we give equal importance to women's cricket and hence we see so many talented cricketers. They are of course inspired by Jhulan's achievements. Though she has retired from international cricket we would love her to play in the woman's IPL which is expected to start next year," added Dalmiya.
Snehasish Ganguly, the CAB secretary, added, "We have made her the mentor of the Bengal women's cricket as we want to get her valuable advice. We have plans to involve her in the development of women's cricket. We also want her to play domestic cricket if she wants."
"Thanks to BCCI and Cricket Association of Bengal [CAB], my family coaches captains, thanks for this opportunity it's a special moment," Goswami said.
"I started in 2002 against England in India and I am ending in England. The most important thing is we are 2-0 up in the series. Each and every moment has a lot of emotions. In the 2017 [ODI] World Cup, we came back and fought, nobody initially thought we would get into the final, the way we played that tournament was something different. From there, women's cricket in India slowly, and gradually picked up, and now we have our own path and we can motivate young girls to play sports and have a career in cricket," said Goswami at the time of toss.
"I have to keep my emotions in check because I can't come with emotion on the cricket field. My character is ruthless; you have to play hard cricket and give your best. A lot of team-mates, people like Harman and Smriti [Mandhana], have seen me, with ups and downs, we've fought and stayed together through ups and downs. It's good that the emotions come out early and after we can come back fresh for the game. I'm happy to see the way Harman and Smriti have carried this team. The way Harman's batting has been great. She's different, on her day it's difficult to get her out. Some days, it's difficult for me to get her. I'm glad for the way players like Yastika Bhatia and Harleen Deol are coming. Hope they come well in the future," the pacer added.
The veteran quick will play her career's final match against England on Saturday.