Mithali, Jhulan gear up for what could be their last chance

NEW DELHI: When India face England in the final at Lord’s on Sunday, it could be a special moment for two of India’s legendary women cricketers, Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami.

For this could be the last opportunity for the two 34-yearolds to win the Women’s World Cup title that has so far been dominated by Australia and England with New Zealand being the only one to break the dominance with a win in 2000. While Mithali is the top rungetter with 6173 runs in women’s One-day Internationals, Jhulan is the top wicket-taker with 192 scalps. They, however, have the biggest prize missing from their cabinets. Jhulan has picked up seven wickets in eight matches so far with her gentle pace, her experience has come in handy. She got two crucial wickets against Australia in the semifinal. In the semifinal, she removed opposition captain Meg Lanning with a beautiful delivery moved away. The wicket dented Aussie hopes. Mithali, however, has been on song with three fifties and a hundred. Thata aprt she has a couple of good knocks that couldn’t materialise into half-centuries. “It’s an opportunity for the Indian team to make it big in India,” Raj, appearing in her second World Cup final 12 years after her first, told ESPNCricinfo. “Everybody will be glued to the television on Sunday,” added Raj, who is the second highest run-getter in this edition. “If we can pull it off, there will be nothing like it. It will help the future of women’s cricket.” India’s 98-run defeat by Australia in the 2005 final at Centurion, South Africa, was not even broadcast. The good thing is that if and when they leave, there are others ready to take over. This Indian team hasn’t been over-reliant on them and there have been contribution from others like Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut, Veda Krishnamurthy Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Ekta Bisht, Shikha Pandey and Deepti Sharma.