Jhulan Goswami wants the World Cup to be held in 2021 and not delayed

With no cricketing action due to coronavirus pandemic, India's premier fast bowler Jhulan Goswami is enhancing her gaming skills and playing FIFA online with her teammates during the lockdown. Goswami would have ideally liked to train and prepare herself for the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2021, but now she is slowly trying to come to grips with the pandemic.



"Initially it was not so great. We didn't know what was happening and suddenly we were asked to go under lockdown," Goswami told IANS. "Slowly and steadily we are getting to know how to survive."



"Your thought process changes and you tend to find your daily routine. I have started doing my training exercises in my house I have got a little bit of space where I do my training early in the morning. It's all about staying home right now and staying positive."



Goswami is the leading wicket-taker in ODIs with 225 wickets under her belt. Like Mithali Raj, the 37-year-old speedster is hoping to give it her all and bring the World Cup home. The competition is scheduled to take place in February-March 2021. The pandemic has already had its effect as the ICC Women's Qualifier has been postponed.



"It's not going to be easy as from here to next year, there aren't many months left," she said. "And we haven't been able to go to the ground for training. We also haven't been playing competitive matches. The number of matches you play before the World Cup, it helps you in finding the right combinations."



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Goswami also stated that whenever the situation is ideal, she and her teammates will be ready to train harder and ready to put in the efforts to make some lost ground.



"We haven't been able to execute such plans," said Goswami. "These are unrealistic times and you just cannot do anything about it. Whenever coronavirus ends or its effect subsides, we have to start training in a more aggressive manner."



"We will have to make up for the lost days. We will have to find the right team combination and play as many matches leading up to the tournament. It's better to have World Cup on time than it getting delayed."



Besides World Cup, Goswami hopes that the Women's Indian Premier League (IPL) sees the light of the day sooner than later. "The BCCI is going to decide that (Women's IPL). Whenever COVID-19 ends, the board will take a call on how things are moving and how the girls are performing," Jhulan, who has retired from T20Is, said.



"Definitely we are all looking forward to having the Women's IPL. It will help Indian women's cricket. Young Indian cricketers will get a chance to play alongside top players of the world. I think the board is working on it and it will happen soon."



Recently the veteran, became part of part of the All India Gaming Federation advisory board alongside Justice Vikramajit Sen and Fatema Agarkar and Goswami expressed her happiness on being part of the committee.



"It is heartening to see that millions of gamers are participating in online formats including cricket and that this ecosystem is growing rapidly. It is an honour to be on the board alongside such eminent people."