‘Lack of motivation compelled Jhulan Goswami to retire from T20 internationals

The lack of motivation and the inability to cope up with the ever-changing nature of the abridged version of the game is what made India women’s pace Jhulan Goswami rethink her T20 International career and then put an end to it.

The 35-year old called it a day from the shortest format of the game just three months away from the Women’s World T20 which is scheduled to be held in the Caribbean in the month of November.

“It’s not an overnight decision. I have been thinking about this for some time,” said Goswami, according to reports from news agencies.

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I couldn’t motivate myself to play T20Is … The game has become faster. I wasn’t able to give my best in both the formats … I felt I was getting older and I didn’t have much more to give.

“Cricket has become tougher, and I have realised my body is taking time to recover,” she added. “Injury is part and parcel of every sportsperson’s life. You have to cope with it. But there was no pressure from anyone. It’s my personal decision,” she further added.

The lanky right-arm bowler thus ends her T20 International career with 56 scalps from 68 matches, which is the most number of wickets taken by an Indian-male or female-in the format.

But Goswami admitted that she didn’t have any regrets whatsoever and now wants to solely focus on ODIs, where she holds the record of being the all-time highest wicket-taker with 203 scalps from 169 matches. “It’s not the time to regret. I’ve to focus on ODIs,” she added.

Her absence from the Indian T20 International side means that Harmanpreet Kaur would now look to Shikha Pandey to lead the pace attack. Youngsters Pooja Vastrakar and Mansi Joshi would be the other bowlers supporting Pandey.

Uncapped cricketer Arundhati Reddy has been included for the T20Is against Sri Lanka. Goswami, after seeing the squad felt that there was enough talent in them to do well.

“I’ve seen the squad that has been announced for the T20Is versus Sri Lanka. There’s a lot of talent and I’m sure someone will make most of the opportunity,” she said.

“The team has some very good players. I can’t talk about whether they will find my replacement or not but I am sure with the kind of talent we have, we will keep doing well as a unit.”

India would kick-start their World T20 campaign against New Zealand on November 9.