Great to be first world No.1: Jhulan

Mumbai: India women’s captain Jhulan Goswami and her England counterpart Charlotte Edwards both believe that T20 cricket could influence the women’s game more than the men’s.

“T20 has had more impact on the women’s game. Today, more shots are being played by us. Our matches attract big crowds, like 20,000 people. T20 has definitely come like a breath of fresh air,” Charlotte, the ICC Women’s Cricketer of Year, said at a function to launch the first ICC women’s ODI rankings here on Thursday.

Jhulan said that with the success of T20, cricket could well become a part of the programme in the Olympics, which will be a significant boost for the women players.

“We definitely want to play in the Olympics. It is the biggest stage for sport and if you look at the recent Games, you can see that it could be a huge inspiration,” she said.

Both felt it was wrong to compare the women’s game with the men’s. “It’s a different ball game,” Jhulan said.

“Over the years, the women’s game has become more powerful,” Charlotte said. “Probably there are not as many sixes but the skill levels are definitely high.”

Jhulan was given the ICC golden armband as the honour for the number one ODI bowler in the new ranking charts. England’s Claire Taylor was the top batsman while Lisa Sthalekar of Australia was adjudged the best allrounder. Former India captain Mithali Raj is second in the batting list which has Edwards in fifth place.

“It’s great to be the first world No. 1. Recently I got the captaincy, so things are going well for me. I want to keep performing well and improve all the time,” Jhulan said.

Charlotte said: “Fifth in batting is brilliant. More important for me is that there are six other players from England in the top 5 (in the three categories put together). I am especially delighted for Claire.”

The Indian captain was quick to shrug off personal glory and said she wanted to look ahead. The Indian team will be touring Australia to play a T20I and five ODIs between October 28 and November 9.

ODI RANKINGS

Batting: 1. Claire Taylor (Eng) 804 points; 2. Mithali Raj (Ind) 728; 3. Lisa Sthalekar (Aus) 722; 4. Sarah Taylor (Eng) 699; 5. Charlotte Edwards Eng, 658

Bowling: 1. Jhulan Goswami (Ind) 741 points; 2. Isa Guha (Eng) 720; 3. S. Nitschke (Aus), 675; 4. Holly Colvin (Eng) 619; 5. Jenny Gunn (Eng) 593.

Allrounders: 1. Sthalekar (Aus) 393 points; 2. Nitschke (Aus) 387; 3. Nicola Browne (NZ) 357; 4. Aimee Mason (NZ) 300; 5. Gunn (Eng) 280.