Watch: Kolkata theatre turns fan zone with posters, placards for Jhulan Goswami; CAB plans to name Eden stand after her

CAB converted an Inox theatre at Elgin Road in South Kolkata into a live fan zone to provide people stadium-like atmosphere and got a brilliant response. The theatre was jampacked with 170 budding women cricketers, CAB officials, and members. They came with banners and posters to cheer for Jhulan Goswami.

September 24, Saturday is quite likely to be remembered as Jhulan Goswami's day in Indian cricket. The multiple record-holding right-arm pace bowler played her last match in Indian colours in the third ODI against England at the iconic Lord's. The Indian women's team cricketers did not leave any stones unturned to show gratitude towards their favourite 'Jhulu di'. In a touching gesture, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur let Jhulan Goswami call the toss in her farewell game. The India skipper was also in tears during a team huddle before the game as the side bid an emotional farewell to India's finest pacer.

170 budding women cricketers, CAB officials, and members were present at a South Kolkata theatre

In Kolkata, some 70km from her hometown Chakdah, the Cricket Association of Bengal hailed Jhulan in their own way. CAB converted an Inox theatre at Elgin Road in South Kolkata into a live fan zone to provide people stadium-like atmosphere and got a brilliant response. The theatre was jampacked with 170 budding women cricketers, CAB officials, and members. They came with banners and posters to cheer for the legendary Indian cricketer.

Talking at the venue, CAB President Avishek Dalmiya said: "We are planning to name a stand after Jhulan Goswami at Eden Gardens. She is a special cricketer and deserves to be with the legends. We will approach the army for the necessary permission. We are also planning a special felicitation for her on the annual day."

"At CAB we give equal importance to women's cricket and hence we see so many talented cricketers. They are of course inspired by Jhulan's achievements. Though she has retired from international cricket we would love her to play in the woman's IPL," he added.

CAB Hony Secretary Snehasish Ganguly said: "She is a legendary cricketer. She revolutionized women's cricket and especially fast bowling. We have made her the mentor of the Bengal Women's cricket as we want to get her valuable advice. We have plans to involve her in development of women's cricket. We also want her to play domestic cricket if she wants."

"We treat women's cricket with value and it shows as all our teams do so well domestically," he added.

Jhulan's journey in international cricket has been simply spectacular, where she played 12 Tests, 2014 ODIs and 68 T20Is for India, and the numbers clearly reveals that. She picked 353 international wickets, the most ever by a bowler in women's cricket. 253 of those came in ODIs which also stands as a record and 43 of those were in World Cups, a record again.

After the toss, Jhulan also spoke to host broadcaster Sky Sports.

"I'd like to thank the BCCI, my friends, my family, my coaches, teammates, captains," said the bowling legend to Sky Cricket before the start of the match. "Everyone, thanks for this opportunity, this is a very special moment.

"When I started my career in 2002, I played my first series against England, and I'm ending against England in my last series. And the most important thing is that we're 2-0 up in the series, that is the most important thing for me in this moment.

"Each and every moment [of 20 year career] has had a lot of emotions, a lot of effort put in. But the 2017 World Cup where our team came back and fought [is the highlight]. Nobody gave us a chance initially that we would be playing in a final, but the way we played that tournament was something different I think, and from there women's cricket in India slowly and gradually picked up.