2022 World Cup is the goal but need to concentrate on present: Jhulan Goswami
37-year-old veteran Indian fast bowler Jhulan Goswami still believes that she can make it to the 2022 Women's World Cup to be played in New Zealand. But she also feels that she will have to take things series-by-series because it will all come down to performance and fitness during that period.
The ICC, on Friday, announced that due to the coronavirus outbreak, the 2021 Women's World Cup in New Zealand will now happen in 2022. The Indian women's team were last seen in action during the 2020 Women's T20 World Cup. Jhulan Goswami, on the other hand, has not played international cricket since November 2019.
Jhulan Goswami feels that while it would have been nice to have the World Cup played in 2021 itself, but having said that, the extra year would give the Indian team enough time to prepare for the mega event.
"To play for India is the biggest honour. Yes, 2022 is the goal now but you have to be part of the process and play matches consistently and perform, and then you can think about the World Cup because there is a lot of time left and it is not round the corner anymore," Jhulan Goswami told PTI.
"We have got a lot of time for preparation, almost 18 months; but on the other hand, it would have been good if it happened next year as I was focussed on that for long," Jhulan Goswami further added.
What foreign players said about Women's T20 Challenge is not right and ethical: Jhulan Goswami
With the Women's T20 Challenge clashing with the Women's Big Bash League, the Indian women's star players won't be able to participate in the latter. Thus, many foreign cricketers like Australia's Alyssa Healy questioned the BCCI's decision to stage the Women's T20 Challenge around the same time as WBBL.
But Jhulan Goswami spoke in defence of the BCCI and felt that whatever the foreign players spoke about the Women's T20 Challenge was not fair.
"The fact that BCCI is going ahead with it is an achievement. It is only this time both events are clashing for the reason beyond our control. What the foreign players said is not right and ethical," Jhulan Goswami said.
"It is BCCI's decision for the development of Indian cricket and not any other country. If you don't like the timing, it is okay, but you cannot question BCCI's decision" Jhulan Goswami added.
The Women's T20 Challenge will be played in parallel with the men's IPL playoffs from Novermber 1 to November 10, and will be a three-team affair.