Passion & love for the game carries me, I don't think about age: Jhulan Goswami

An athlete’s life is often weighed in terms of age and not in terms of how much they have to offer. Jhulan Goswami maybe nearing 38 years, but she’s still passionate about the game and is enjoying playing the sport, she said.



“As a professional athlete, you never think about age,” Goswami said on SportsTiger’s show ‘Off-the-Field’.



“You just go on with your passion, hard work and love for the game. You just want to be on the ground as much as possible and that is the most satisfying factor for any athlete. And I am just enjoying myself.”



The right-arm seamer last played international cricket in 2019 against West Indies before joining her Bengal team-mates for the domestic tournament. However, it was suspended following the pandemic and Goswami had to resort to measures for keeping fit at home.



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While the Women’s T20 Challenge, that would have been played in May, was postponed to November, Goswami is among those who are waiting for a full-fledged women’s IPL.



“As far as IPL is concerned, we do wish for the full-fledged tournament should start and we are all waiting for that,” said the former India captain, who picked 56 wickets in 68 T20Is for India.



“Women's IPL will be a big achievement for the country and for young cricketers as they are going to share the dressing room with top-notch Indian and international talent."



Out of the last three ICC tournaments to have taken place, India made the finals on two occasions – the Women’s World Cup in 2017 and the T20 World Cup in 2020. Goswami was an important member of the 2017 team, picking 10 wickets in the tournament.



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https://open.spotify.com/episode/68RdoUPR5JUmx0RUr9fixZ



“It was a huge achievement to play in front of a full house at Lords in the final. We started the World Cup on a high note,” said Goswami, who picked three for 23 in the final, recalling the tournament.



"It was an absolute team effort from the very beginning. Whether you speak about Smriti Mandhana, Mithali Raj, Ekta Bisht, Deepti Sharma, Shikha Pandey or Rajeshwari Gayakwad, everyone had contributed. As a team, we believed and performed."



"But the 2017 World Cup, irrespective of everything, was the year of revolution for women's cricket in our country. I think momentum which was required for women's cricket was set up by us. If you look at our team's performance in the last three years, we have been very consistent and only lost in the final whether it is ODI or T20I,” she concluded.