Veteran India pacer Jhulan Goswami announced her retirement from Twenty20 Internationals on Thursday, bringing down curtains on an illustrious career. Goswami picked up 56 wickets in 68 T20Is and picked up a five-wicket haul against Australia in 2012 at Visakhapatnam.
With this development, the Indian T20I side under Harmanpreet Kaur have suffered a huge setback just three months before the World T20 in West Indies.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India released a statement following her retirement: “Goswami thanked the BCCI and her teammates for all the love and support she garnered during her stint with the T20I team and wished them luck going forward. BCCI and the entire Women’s national team wishes her the best and looks forward to her valuable contributions when she represents India in other two formats.”
Goswami retires as India’s highest wicket-taker in the shortest format of the game but hot on her heels are spinners Poonam Yadav and Ekta Bisht, who have 53 and 50 wickets respectively.
Goswami started her T20I career in 2006 at Derby against England, which was also the first match that India women played in the shortest format in the game. Her last game was the Asia Cup final at Kuala Lampur, where India lost to Bangladesh in stunning fashion. Widely regarded as one of India’s greatest-ever players, Goswami has played 10 Tests and 169 ODIs. She is also the only pacer to have more than 200 wickets in the 50-over format.