"Women's World Cup Victory Will Motivate Young Girls To Take Sports Seriously": India Legend Jhulan Goswami To NDTV
Legendary cricketer Jhulan Goswami explained the significance of India's Women's World Cup 2025 triumph in a candid chat with NDTV.
Team India lifted the Women's World Cup 2025 for the first time on Sunday, marking a potentially watershed moment for women's cricket in the country. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side defeated South Africa by 52 runs to clinch the title. Legendary India fast bowler Jhulan Goswami, who finished World Cup runners-up twice during her career, reflected on the special achievement in a candid interaction with NDTV. Jhulan stated that the victory would surely inspire many young girls to take up sport. "It was a huge moment for the entire country. When Harman (Harmanpreet Kaur) took that (winning) catch, we could not control our emotions. It was a special moment, and definitely we're going to celebrate those moments," Jhulan said.
"This is rare in women's cricket. It's the first time we won an ICC event in senior women's cricket. It was amazing to see the entire country behind them, and to see a large crowd come to support.
"The best thing was to see the entire ground chanting 'India, India' when Harman lifted the trophy. It was an amazing, emotional moment for me," Jhulan added.
Jhulan explained in detail why the World Cup win could be pivotal for the future of women's cricket and sport in India.
"This World Cup will definitely motivate a lot of budding, young cricketers. They will start playing cricket and dream. This will motivate more and more young girls to play sports," Jhulan said.
Jhulan lauded the performances of stars like captain Harmanpreet Kaur, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh.
"Sports is the biggest leveller. Sports teaches you everything. The way Harman, Smriti, Shafali, Jemimah, Deepti, Richa performed, they will definitely motivate more girls in our country. They will take sports professionally and seriously in the future," Jhulan said.
Jhulan, who joined the Indian team in their victory celebrations, revealed why the win was so special to her on a personal level.
"When I started, I saw the Women's World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand at the Eden Gardens in 1997 as a ballgirl. From that moment, I dreamed of playing for my country. But my seniors said, 'No, it's not about playing for the country. We have to win the World Cup.' We came very close twice, but we couldn't finish the final lap in 2005 and 2017," Jhulan said.
"This time, the way our girls won the match against Australia in the semi-final, after that against South Africa. The way they came back after three back-to-back losses in the group stage. Everyone started saying the team has burnt out, they don't have a good bowling attack or they don't have a good finisher. But the team just stood together and believed. And we also started believing with them. That's why this joy is even more special," Jhulan further said.
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