3 Jhulan Goswami records that Renuka Thakur can break
Renuka Singh Thakur made her international debut against Australia in October 2021. Since then, she has represented the country in 38 matches and taken 49 wickets. She is a right-arm fast bowler who can get the ball to move both ways.
Jhulan Goswami is one of the greatest women cricketers of all time. The right-arm pacer has taken 255 ODI wickets (the next-best total is 191), 44 Test wickets, and 56 T20I wickets.
She played international cricket for 20 years, retiring last year against England in August at Lord's. Ever since then, Renuka has been the leading pace bowler for the national team. She has taken on the role extremely well. She can break several records.
Let's look at 3 such Jhulan Goswami records she can break.
#1 T20I career wickets
Renuka Singh Thakur - the swing queen! https://t.co/uBWZ02RSvE
Jhulan Goswami is the highest wicket-taker among fast bowlers to have represented the Indian Women's team. She has taken 56 wickets in 68 matches at an average of 21.94, an economy rate of 5.45, and a strike rate of 24.1.
Meanwhile, Renuka Thakur has had an excellent start to her T20I career. She has taken 31 wickets in 31 matches at an average of 22.12, an economy rate of 6.29, and a strike rate of 21.
The T20 format is only going to grow further. Renuka is just 27 years old and will play a lot more games in the format for the national team. She has exhibited her skills to lead a bowling attack.
#2 T20 World Cup wickets
Jhulan Goswami played 21 matches across four T20 World Cups from 2009 to 2016. She took 10 wickets at an average of 33.80, an economy rate of 5.36, and a strike rate of 37.80.
Renuka has already taken seven wickets in four matches (the joint-second-highest total) at the ongoing T20 World Cup, which is just her first appearance in the competition. She took five wickets against England women (albeit in a losing cause) and kept things tight in the other fixtures.
India have qualified for the semi-finals, where they will face Australia on February 23. The young fast bowler will have to be at her best if India are to challenge this Australian women's side.
#3 Career best bowling figures in T20I & ODI
Renuka Singh Thakur has the best bowler figure by an Indian in Women's T20 World Cup - 5/15.
Jhulan Goswami took a 6-wicket haul (6/31) against New Zealand Women way back in 2011 in ODIs. In T20Is, she took a 5-wicket haul (5/11) against Australia Women in 2012.
This restricted the Australians to just 89 runs in the first innings and ensured a comfortable win for the hosts.
Renuka took 5/15 against England Women in the ongoing Women's T20 World Cup, which means she can certainly improve on this performance.
Her best performance in ODIs was a 4-wicket haul against Sri Lanka (4/28). She has also taken 18 wickets in just seven games, exhibiting her elite wicket-taking skills.