Indian women's cricket pacer Jhulan Goswani retires from T20Is

India's woman pacer Jhulan Goswami. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Veteran India woman pacer Jhulan Goswami announced her retirement from T20Is yesterday, a decision which rules her out of the ICC World T20 in the West Indies in November. Goswami, 35, who played 68 T20Is and picked up 56 wickets, felt that age compelled her to quit the shortest format. "I thought I am not giving my 100 per cent to this format since the game moves very fast. I am growing old and getting a bit slow as compared to the others. I tried my best to do well, but when I realised that my performance is not up to my expectation, I decided to stop," Jhulan told mid-day from Kolkata yesterday.

Jhulan played her last match, the Twenty20 Asia Cup final against Bangladesh at Kuala Lumpur in June when India lost by three wickets. Jhulan conceded 20 runs in two overs and returned wicketless. "I was thinking about quitting for the last two to three months. Today I made up my mind to inform to the management [BCCI] and selectors about my decision," she added.

Asked about missing the World T20, Jhulan said: "It's all about enjoying the game. I was not giving my best that was expected by the team. I was unable to perform for the last few months because my body was tired. It's going to be difficult for me to recover quickly. I tried to keep myself fit, but failed." Jhulan played 169 ODIs in which she claimed 203 wickets and scored 1011 runs. She also played 10 Tests and took 40 wickets. "Now, I am able to concentrate on my training and practice as I have more time to get ready for the ODIs and Tests," said Jhulan.

56
No. of wickets Jhulan Goswami claimed in 68 matches, the most by an Indian in women's T20Is

5-11
Jhulan's bowling figures against Australia in 2012 is the best by an Indian in a Twenty20I innings

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