Are Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami the Best Pair for India Women’s Cricket History?

(Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami together in BCCI interview)

The India Women’s cricket team has been among the most dominant teams in the International scenario over the past few years. But towards the start of the 21st century, the team was not as strong as it has been over the past few decades. This has been made possible by the major contributions of the deadly duo, Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj. The Indian Women’s cricket team is yet to win their first ICC title but has been runners-up in 2005 and 2017. Also, their dominance in the Asia Cup has been unmatchable, as the team has won seven out of eight Women’s Asia Cup tournaments so far. In this blog, fans will be able to learn about the duo of Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj, with their contribution to the team.

Let’s Meet Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj

The new cricket fans won't be knowing about the players who took the India Women's cricket team forward, namely Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami. Let's have a look at the legendary players of the India Women's cricket team before analysing their contributions to the Women's cricket scenario.

Jhulan Goswami

Jhulan Goswami made her debut for the India Women's cricket team in 2002 and played her last match in 2022, playing for two decades for the team. Her right arm medium fast bowling has been one of the crucial aspects of the team's bowling line-up for several years. Her impressive performances have helped Goswami to be among the greatest bowlers of all time to play at the international level.

(Jhulan Goswami bowling for the India Women’s cricket team)

When she was just 19 years old, she had the opportunity to make her debut for the India Women's cricket team, playing her first international match in 2002. She also performed well for the India Women's cricket team against England in the Test series during 2006-07, where the India Women's cricket team was able to defeat England Women. Her contribution along with Mithali Raj, helped the team to defeat the English women.

Her consistent performances in the International format also helped Jhulan to secure the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year award in 2007. She has taken 255 wickets across the Women's ODI format, 40 wickets in the Test format, and 56 wickets in the T20I format while being economical for the team in all three of them. For her performances, Jhulan Goswami also received the Arjuna Award in 2010 and the Padma Shri Award in 2012.

Mithali Raj

Mithali Raj has been one of the most legendary icons of the India Women's cricket team and has led the team for several years. Holding several records under her name and also helping the India Women's cricket team reach new levels under her captaincy, she has been a legendary batter at the international level.

(Mithali Raj celebrating her half-century)

She made her debut for the India Women's cricket team in 2004 and also played her last game in 2022, like Jhulan Goswami. Having played for almost two decades, Mithali Raj has several records and is also the highest individual run scorer in the international format. Along with that, she has the record of scoring 7 consecutive half-centuries for the team in the ODI format.

Various new cricketers got the opportunity to showcase their talent under the captaincy of Mithali Raj, as she also led the team in the ICC Women's World Cup 2017, where the team lost in the finals against England. Mithali Raj has scored 85 half-centuries and 8 centuries across all three formats in her career. Many of the cricket experts have also labelled Mithali Raj as the greatest cricketer of all time.

Analysing their Impact on the India Women's Cricket Team

Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami had a great impact on the growth of the India Women's cricket team, as the team has received immense support from the BCCI and even the cricket fans over the past few years. Although there were several players who were a part of the team in the initial stages, Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami have been the inspiration of various players over the past few years for reasons which are given below:

(Mithali Raj leading the India Women’s cricket team)

1. Leading the team for Almost Two Decades

Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj have been a part of the India Women's cricket team for almost two decades. Jhulan played for the team for almost 20 years, while Mithali Raj played for the team for 18 years, as they've been performing together since 2004. In the year 2004, the India Women's cricket team did not have many great performances in the international format against other teams.

When Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami played the 2005 World Cup together, the India Women's cricket team reached the tournament finals. Mithali Raj played an important role in the semi-final match against New Zealand Women, scoring 91 runs off 104 balls, while Jhulan Goswami was also able to take up a wicket at an economy of 2.70 runs per over.

(Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj together in the photo shoot)

Not only in the ICC tournaments, the India Women's cricket team was also able to perform well under the leadership of Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami at the Women's Asia Cup. Under their legacy, the India Women's cricket team became the most dominant team in the Asia Cup, as they have won seven out of eight Asia Cup tournaments held till now.

2. Helped Women's Cricket to be noticed by BCCI

Women's cricket was not noticed by the BCCI until Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj started showing their impressive skills to the team by playing together. Goswami was able to dominate with her bowling skills, while Mithali Raj was able to perform well with the bat. In the years 2002 to 2004, the Indian Women's cricket team got their performance boosted, due to which it was noticed by the BCCI.

The BCCI talked about the reasons behind Women's cricket being lacking at that time, and the administering association said that it was due to a lack of funds. At that time, the Indian Women's Cricket Team was merged with the BCCI and was no longer administered by the WCAI (Women's Cricket Association of India).

(Jhulan Goswami celebrating after taking a wicket)

After the intervention by the BCCI, the India Women's cricket team received many more opportunities, as the investments increased in Women's cricket, and it was also promoted by the various popular male cricketers of that time. Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami communicated with the BCCI officials at that time to discuss the challenges faced by the team under the WCAI.

3. Overseas Records

The India Women's cricket team also posted great overseas records in the longer formats of the game, as the team was able to perform well against teams like England, South Africa, and various others, being able to defeat them at their own home ground or in India. The first overseas victory secured by the team was against England, where Jhulan Goswami took two five-wicket hauls and Mithali Raj scored an impressive half-century in the first innings.

This was just the beginning of the dominance of the India Women's cricket team against England, as they even defeated England Women in another Test in 2014. Jhulan Goswami was able to take 5 wickets in the game, while Mithali Raj scored a match-winning half-century.

(India Women going against England Women in 2006)

In 2017, India Women went for a series in South Africa, where they were able to dominate in the ODI series, winning them by a 2-1 ratio. Jhulan Goswami played just two games but maintained an average of 10 runs per wicket, showcasing her dominance with the bowl, as Mithali Raj was only able to score 69 runs throughout the series.

4. Dominant Even before the T20 Format

Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj became a part of the India Women's cricket team even before the introduction of the T20 format for Women's cricket. Although the T20 matches were being played, the influence of these two players helped the India Women's cricket team to dominate even before the shorter format would take up the stage.

In the ODI format, the India Women's team was able to dominate across most of the matches which were being played at the home ground, and it even seemed that the team had mastered winning matches at home. This was even continued by the team in the Asia Cup tournaments, as the India Women's cricket team won the Asia Cup tournament consecutively six times.

(Team India photo shoot during the post-match)

Talking about the test format, the performance of the India Women's cricket team was good in most of the games, as the players were able to maintain their form, and most of the games resulted in a draw. Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami became a deadly combination for the India Women's cricket team in the longer formats of the game.

5. Influence on Junior Players

The two legendary players of the India Women's cricket team also acted as an influence on the Junior players, who are now leading the team after their retirement. Under her leadership, Mithali Raj was able to build up various well-known female cricketers like Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, and various others.

(Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Smriti Mandhana together)

Most of the female cricketers who are currently a part of the India Women's cricket team even revealed that the performances by Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami influenced them to represent the country at the international level. Therefore, the time span of almost two decades for which these two players represented the India Women's cricket team has also been helpful in influencing young talents.

6. Leading the Team Across Two World Cup Finals

Mithali Raj has been the only captain who has led the India Women's cricket team across the ICC Women's World Cup semi-finals two times. Although the team has yet to win its first ICC title, the contributions of Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj have been impressive in the World Cups, with the team still falling short of the win.

(India Women vs England Women in the ICC World Cup 2017 finals)

In the 2017 World Cup final match against England Women, the India Women's bowling line-up did well, with Jhulan Goswami taking 3 wickets, but the batting line-up fell short by just 9 runs to win their first ICC Women's World Cup. Mithali Raj failed to perform well in the final game, but the captain led the team from the front to the World Cup finals twice.

7. Recognition to Female Cricket in India

Last but not least, Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj have brought recognition to female cricket among Indian cricket fans. The BCCI has taken various initiatives to make women's cricket equal to men's cricket, as they also made wages equal for the players who represent the country, both female and male cricketers.

(Mithali Raj, in a post-match interview)

Even in an interview, Mithali Raj said that various people ask female cricketers about their idols in Men's cricket, but no one asks Men's cricketers about their idols in female cricket. This brought down a new way of thinking for the cricket fans, as they started looking forward even to their favourite female cricketers, which increased the fan support for the India Women’s cricket team.