Final over: Jhulan Goswami's swansong is as memorable as teammates and fans had hoped

The last one, too, is humdrum. Except, by virtue of having happened, it drew Goswami’s illustrious two-decade-long India career to a close.

Her full allotment of 10 overs bowled, Goswami picks up the ball, turns to her right, ambles off the Lord’s Cricket Ground pitch and flashes a smile into the distance. Harmanpreet Kaur, the India captain, is the first to rush to her, from cover, and clasps her into an embrace.

The other Indian players follow suit and converge from all around the field. Like kids spotting someone dressed up as Santa Claus, they swarm around 39-year-old Goswami, the oldest woman to play for India, and give her a group hug.

The 36th over of England’s chase in the tour-ending third ODI has just ended. India are one wicket away from a memorable 3-0 series sweep, the hosts 52 runs from spoiling Goswami’s farewell match.

But nothing matters much at this moment to this Indian team. Except that Goswami will not bowl another over for India. That the 2268.8 overs she delivered in international cricket before, across formats, have all led to this moment. And that she bows out as the highest wicket-taker in women’s international cricket and a most-loved team-mate at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.

"When I debuted, that time she was the captain," Harmanpreet would say at the post-match presentation after India’s 16-run victory. "Even in the huddle before the game, I told her when I was going through the best time, many people were around me and supporting me but in my rough times, she was the only one who was backing and supporting me and I just wanted to say thank-you to her.

“I know it was her last game but she will always be with us and she is just a call away when we need her. She is my go-to person. In my low phase, I always call her and discuss what I have to do. She is someone who (always) guided me." ***

The wicket maiden Goswami ends her career with is an elemental piece to her journey. Much like the run-less over that set off her outing with the ball earlier in the day in her final match of a trailblazing 284-game India career. Or the 263 maidens she bowled before her swansong, still comfortably the most by a woman in ODIs.

The record is testament to the accuracy that underpinned Goswami’s excellence as a fast bowler. This, even as her pace dropped from the 119-120kph region to the low-to-mid 110s, and she relinquished the throne she held in the late-2000s as the fastest bowler in women’s international cricket.

In a career that saw her rise from the obscurity of a small town in West Bengal to the top of the women’s game, things like maidens bowled and extras conceded propped up her gigantic accomplishments.

The 255 wickets in ODIs, most by a woman in the format, tell you how potent a force she was in the format. But without the discipline of bowling relentlessly unerring lines, could she have got there? Better yet, set herself a sizeable 64 wickets clear of the second-best on the ODI wicket-takers’ list?

Or whether her 43 wickets across her five appearances in women's ODI World Cups, the most by any bowler in the competition, would have been possible without the pressure she routinely mounted on batters by starving them of scoring opportunities?

A perfectionist at heart, Goswami’s commitment to polishing the nuances of her craft – the length of her run-up, the cocking of her wrist at load-up, the swing of her non-bowling arm in her follow-through – helped her sustain her success at the highest level.

Her deep understanding of her body, and the many injuries she had to prevail over since making her India debut as a 19-year-old in 2002, remained the cornerstone of her longevity.

“I am fortunate enough to be able to serve the Indian team for 20 years, able to contribute a little bit from my side, whatever way I was able to, with a lot of honesty and dedication,” Goswami said on the eve of her last international game.

Her self-awareness also shone through when she spoke about how she came to time her retirement.

"For the last two years, I was thinking every series could be my last, especially with Covid-19 postponing cricket to 2021,” she added. “I was going through a lot of injuries. I was taking it series by series …

“This is the last ODI series before the T20 World Cup (in February 2023), so I thought I will go to NCA (National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru), do a lot of rehab, and come to England for my last series." ***

(Photo by Annesha Ghosh)

Over in Kolkata, the Cricket Association of Bengal is screening Goswami’s Lord’s swansong live at a top multiplex.

Women cricketers, from her domestic team Bengal’s age-group and senior sides, are glued to the big screen. As Goswami’s final over in the match comes to an end, they break into rapturous cheers, whistles and applause, most of them up on their feet.

I ask an Under-15 player sat next to me if Goswami’s wicket maiden has registered with her. She says it did but it doesn’t matter to her, or if Goswami hadn’t taken the two wickets she has on the day.

“She is my idol,” says the teenager. “I just want to clap loud and long because this is the end. We will never get to see didi play for India again.”

In Jhulan Goswami’s career, and in cricket, there won’t be another over like the one she just bowled.