'World's Fastest Female Bowler Jhulan Goswami'

Known to be the fastest female bowler in the world, 'Jhulan Goswami' has helped India women to claim victories over the years. She is most noted for her exemplary performance in England in 2006-07, wherein she led her team to a historic first-ever Test series victory.

Born on 25 November 1982 in a small town of Nadia in West Bengal, Goswami made her ODI debut on 6 January 2002 and Test debut on 14 January 2002, both against England women. As a child, she never thought of being a cricketer and playing for the national team. She played cricket on the playground with her friends to just while away time and never realized that the tennis ball cricket would ever turn into anything serious to make the star bowler of the national women team.

While watching the World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand in 1997, Goswami decided to be a cricketer. She says that her parents were reluctant at first to allow her to play professionally, but later agreed. Afterwards, she worked hard towards making her dream come true. Her first international cricket match was East Zone (home team) against Air-India. It was the match wherein her pace and skills grabbed the attention.

The right-arm medium pacer has test average of 16.36 and ODI average of 22.66. Moreover, she has three 5 wicket hauls in test cricket and one in ODI plus a 10 wicket haul in a test match. Her career best figure is 5/16 and with these bowling figures, she is indeed the best in the game of cricket. Nonetheless, her consistency in the matches defines her better then her bowling and batting stats.

Bowling at the speed of 120kmph, Goswami`s claim to fame is her bowling pace. However, she is a noted all rounder - being quick as a cat in the field and having a good skill with the bat as well. Her batting average for test matches is 29.22 and ODIs is 12.00. Over the years, she has earned herself a reputation of turning the game upside down, be it with her bowling talent or batting skills. Her skills in the field make her the most sought after player. She plays for not only India women, but Bengal women team, East zone women team and Asia women XI cricket team as well.

After playing a major part in the 2006-07 test series win against England, Goswami was awarded with ICC Women`s Cricketer of the Year 2007, an annual award given as part of the ICC Awards ceremony. The same year, she was also honored with a `Special Award` for her outstanding performance against England women. In 2009, she was chosen to lead the India women team in Women`s World Cup.

In 2010, Goswami was honored with Arjuna Award for excellency in the game. A year later, she received the M.A. Chidambaram trophy for Best Women Cricketer and in 2012, she was awarded Padma Shri, the highest civilian award of the country.