Stepping on the field for her last international game, Jhulan had the honour of doing the toss for India against England and also gave a speech in the team huddle. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who had debuted under Jhulan's captaincy in 2009, broke down in tears when Jhulan addressed the side.
She was even provided with a memento before the start of the match at Lord's. England head coach Lisa Keightley, whose term ends after Saturday's match, presented Goswami with a shirt signed by the England players along with interim ECB CEO Clare Connor.
Jhulan walked in to bat at number nine for India after an ordinary batting display from the visitors in the 39th over, and received a heartfelt guard of honor on the field as she made her way out one final time in international cricket. Playing in her 204th ODI, Jhulan was unfortunately dismissed for a golden duck in her final international innings as young left-arm pacer Freya Kemp castled her.
Earlier, put in to batting first, India lost wickets in quick succession to be reduced to 29/4 in 8.4 overs, before Smriti Mandhana (50) and Deepti Sharma (68 not out) resurrected the innings. However, India continued to lose wickets at quick intervals after the 58-run partnership between Smriti and Deepti was broken.
It wasn't long before Goswami came out to bat and eventually, India were bowled out for 169 in 45.4 overs. Incidentally, the last time she was dismissed for a golden duck in ODIs was during the 2017 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup final against England at the very same iconic venue. The tournament, one of the high points of Jhulan's cricketing career, ended with India losing the final by nine runs.
Six years later, though, in her final international series, Jhulan had the honour of being a member of the Indian team that beat England in an ODI series in England for the first time in 23 years.
For England, pacer Kate Cross was the star performer with the ball, ripping through the Indian top order with her unplayable swing bowling and tailor-made conditions. India will be hoping that Jhulan adds to her tally of 353 international wickets when they come out in defence of 169.
The 39-year-old pacer, who was named in India's squad for the three ODIs in England on Friday, will leave the game as the highest wicket-taker in women's internationals, with 352 wickets across formats. She had earlier missed the tour of Sri Lanka in July, which led to speculations about her international future.
According to an ESPNcricinfo report, Goswami missed out the series because of fitness issues. She regained full fitness in mid-July and was selected for the England tour following clearance from the National Cricket Academy medical staff.
The report further said that the team management had spoken to her about looking to the future and building a pool of young fast bowlers who can feature across formats.
Notably, Goswami last played for India during the ODI World Cup in New Zealand in March this year. She hasn't played T20Is since 2018 and played her last Test match in October 2021.
As per a BCCI official, the board was keen on giving her a "proper farewell", because "Jhulan couldn't say goodbye on the field" after picking up a side strain ahead of India's final group game against South Africa.
It has been learned that Goswami is keeping her options open for the inaugural women's IPL that is scheduled for March 2023. The cricketer is also in discussions with a men's IPL team for a mentoring role and she will be a player and mentor for the Bengal women's team for the upcoming domestic season.
Jhulan began her international career as a 19-year-old in March 2002. Over the course of two decades, she played 12 Tests, 68 T20 internationals and 201 ODIs and holds the record for the most wickets in ODIs -- 252 -- and has featured in six 50-over World Cups.
India will play three T20Is in England on September 10, 13, and 15, followed by three ODIs on 18, 21, and 24.
Both teams will be captained by Harmanpreet Kaur with senior fast bowler Jhulan Goswami making a comeback in the ODI squad. The 39-year-old Goswami had missed the tour of Sri Lanka in July amid speculations about her international future.
Meanwhile, Kiran Navgire - the batter from Maharashtra who plays for Nagaland - who made an impression at domestic level and in the Women's T20 Challenge earlier this year, received her maiden call-up to India's T20I squad.
On the other hand, Jemimah Rodrigues, who was ruled out of The Hundred in England with a wrist injury, was named in both squads.
Wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh returned to the T20I squad but batter Yastika Bhatia, who had made an appearance in the CWG 2022 final as a concussion substitute lost her place in the T20I squad, but she was retained in the ODI squad.
Allrounder Dayalan Hemalatha, who last played a T20I in 2019, was also recalled to the squad. She has also been picked for the ODIs, where her last appearance came at home against South Africa in 2021.
India will play three T20Is in England on September 10, 13 and 15, followed by three T20Is on September 18, 21 and 24.
India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Jemimah Rodrigues, Sneh Rana, Renuka Thakur, Meghna Singh, Radha Yadav, S Meghana, Taniya Bhatia (wk), R Gayakwad, D Hemalatha, Simran Dil Bahadur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kiran Navgire
India ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Sabbhineni Meghana, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Renuka Thakur, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Harleen Deol, D Hemalatha, Simran Dil Bahadur, Jhulan Goswami, Jemimah Rodrigues
In the clip, Jhulan can be found bowling a fuller length delivery to Rahul followed by a short ball outside off stump. Rahul played both the deliveries with elan as he hit a cover drive on the first ball, while the second ball was cut from the back foot on the off side.
K L Rahul is batting and Jhulan Goswami is bowling.
— Juman Sarma (@Juman_gunda) July 18, 2022
📍NCA, Bangalore@klrahul • @cool_rahulfan pic.twitter.com/xkuvvPZsHP
Rahul is currently training at the NCA after his successful surgery for hernia in Germany. The player had missed the five-match T20I series against the Proteas in June this year. He was supposed to lead the Indian team in the series in absence of regular skipper Rohit Shama. However, a groin injury forced him to pull out of the series.
Rahul was last seen playing competitive cricket in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Under his leadership, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) reached Qualifier 2 of IPL 2022 where they lost to Rajasthan Royals comprehensively.
Rahul is expected to play in the forthcoming five-match series against West Indies. However, his inclusion in the squad is subject to fitness. India’s T20I series in the Caribbean starts on July 29.
Raj, who struck a half-century in India's final league match against South Africa on Sunday, surpassed Australia's Rachael Haynes and Tammy Beaumont of England.
However, the match ended in heartbreak for the Indian skipper as her team crashed out of the World Cup in a last-ball thriller.
Star opener Smriti Mandhana, who played a 71-run knock against South Africa, remained static on 10th.
In the bowlers' chart, Goswami, who missed the match against the Proteas, went past the South African duo of Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka to be fifth.
However, she lost her ninth position in the all-rounders' list to Katherine Brunt of England.
Goswami is now 10th with 217 rating points in her kitty, while compatriot Deepti Sharma held on to her seventh position.
South Africa opener Laura Wolvaardt, who has scored more runs (433) at the ongoing World Cup than any other player, moved up two places, overtaking the Australian duo of Alyssa Heau and Beth Mooney to claim the top ranking.
In India's opening match of the ongoing World Cup against Pakistan at Bay Oval, Jhulan took 2/26 in ten overs in the 107-run win to stretch her scalps to 38 across five Women's Cricket World Cups since 2005. Now, with the wicket of New Zealand keeper-batter Katey Martin through a yorker, Jhulan is now equal to Lyn in the leading wicket-taker across all Women's Cricket World Cups.
Earlier, on Wednesday during the pre-match virtual press conference, when quizzed about being on the verge of a big milestone, Jhulan was more focused on making an impactful contribution for the team.
"I'm not aware of how many wickets I have, but it is important as a senior member of the side, to go there and perform well, give a good start, give an early breakthrough. That is my job and I want to stick to my role, that is the important thing and if you play a long time, you are going to achieve a few individual milestones."
In her first spell against New Zealand, Jhulan had 0/34 in seven overs. In her last two overs, Jhulan conceded only eight runs and got a wicket of Katey to equal Lyn in the leading wicket-takers tally.
"That matters (on achieving milestones), that gives you a lot of joy, but what is important is how you contribute for the team - that's the most important thing for me and I always believe in that. For me, if I'm doing well but my team is not winning, that is not a good thing for me. I enjoy when I contribute and the team wins."
"I enjoy that more and I want to stay strict in that and personal individual milestones don't matter much to me, because I am absolutely a team player and I always try that. I contribute as much as I can and whatever milestones are achieved - I will definitely try to enjoy those. Thank you for letting me know about this. I'm really looking forward for tomorrow's (Thursday's) match, I want to contribute and do well."
India will be hoping that Jhulan's contribution will not go in vain as they try to chase 261 and bag two crucial points in the World Cup.
Jhulan had suffered an injury to her heel ahead of the first T20I. On Friday, India registered a nine-wicket win in the second match and now lead the T20I series 2-0.
Rumeli, 34, played her last match for India in the One-Day International (ODI)series against Australia in March 2012.
She has represented India in 78 ODIs, 15 T20Is and four Tests.
The squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice captain), Mithali Raj, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Anuja Patil, Taniya Bhatia (wicketkeeper), Nuzhat Parveen (wicketkeeper), Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Rumeli Dhar.
Veteran batswoman Mithali Raj will captain the side that will compete in the eight-team competition Britain.
India have never won the trophy. They finished runners-up in 2005 to Australia.
The squad:
Mithali Raj (Captain), Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Mona Meshram, Punam Raut, Deepti Sharma, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Ekta Bisht, Sushma Verma, Mansi Joshi, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Nuzhat Parveen, Smriti Mandhana.
Chasing 120, Mithali top scored a 66-ball unbeaten 51 and Mona Meshram contributed with a patient 93-ball 38 to overhaul the target in just 41 overs after Jhulan (3/20) and Shikha Pandey (3/22) made life difficult for the home side.
In the process, Goswami also became the leading wickettaker in women's Ond-day Internationals, eclipsing Australian Cathryn Fitzpatrick, and taking her haul to 181 wickets from 153 outings.
Earlier, Mignon du Preez (38) and wicketkeeper-bat Trisha Chetty (28) were among the four South Africans to manage the double figures along with Marizanne Kapp (23) and Laura Wolvaardt (17) as the Indian opening bowling duo of Jhulan and Shikha gave little away.
India will now face Zimbabwe in their next match on Thursday.
Brief Scores: South Africa 119 (Mignon du Preez 38, Trisha Chetty 28, Jhulan Goswami 3/20, Shikha Sharma 3/22) lose to India 121/3 (Mithali Raj 51 not out, Mona Meshram 38, Shabnim Ismail 2/17) by 7 wickets.
Goswami, who last held the top spot in February 2017, finished with eight wickets in the series while helping her team reach second position in the eight-team championship that provides direct qualification berths to hosts New Zealand and four other top teams in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2021.
The latest rankings update also takes into account performances of another ICC Women's Championship series that saw defending champions Australia score a facile 3-0 win over New Zealand to move closer to clinching a direct berth as they are now at the top with 22 points from 12 matches.
India are second with 16 from 15 while New Zealand are on 14 from 15. Reigning World champions England are behind South Africa in fifth position, with 12 points from 12 matches.
Goswami, the most successful bowler in ODIs with 218 wickets, inched closer to the record for the most number of days at the top.
She has now been number one for 1873 days, with only retired Australia fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick having spent more time at the top, for 2113 days.
Goswami's new-ball partner Shikha Pandey gained 12 spots to reach fifth position after also finishing with eight wickets against England.
It is for the first time in nine years that two India bowlers are in the top five after Goswami and Rumeli Dhar were in that bracket in 2010.
Stylish left-handed opener Smriti Mandhana, who is the leading run-scorer in the current edition of the ICC Women's Championship with 837 runs, consolidated her position at the top with a career-best 797 points.
The last time Indians topped both the batting and bowling lists was in March 2012, when Mithali Raj and Goswami led the tables.
In another important movement, Natalie Sciver advanced 10 slots to reach a career-best fifth place after scoring 130 runs in the series, second only to Mandhana's 153. Sciver's previous best was seventh position, in July 2017. Her compatriot Danielle Wyatt has gained seven slots to reach a career-best 34th position.
Other players to move up in the rankings update include Australia's Alyssa Healy (up one place to 15th) and Rachael Haynes (up seven places to 21st) and New Zealand's Sophie Devine (up two places to 10th) and Katie Perkins (up six places to 31st) among batters.
Among bowlers, Jess Jonnasen of Australia (up two places to second) and Sophie Ecclestone of England (up four places to 20th) are the notable movers while the all-rounders' list sees Sciver gain two places to fifth and Devine move up three places to seventh.
In an upcoming series starting March 16, England would be looking to overtake India with a 3-0 win over Sri Lanka, who are at the bottom of the table with only one win from 12 matches.
For Sri Lanka, captain and aggressive left-handed batter Chamari Athapaththu will be looking to get back into the top 10 from her present 11th position while former captain Inoka Ranaweera would be similarly hoping to improve her position from the 20th place that she currently occupies.
While Jhulan Goswami (3/33), Shikha Pandey (2/38), Ekta Bisht (2/28) and Poonam Yadav (2/33) starred with the ball, openers Priya Punia (75 not out) and Jemimah Rodrigues (55) made noticeable contributions with the bat to help India clinch a comfortable win at the Reliance Stadium.
Opting to bat, South Africa were off to a poor start and the Indian bowlers kept on jolting them at regular intervals. Laura Wolvaardt (39) and Marizanne Kapp (54) were the only two batswomen who showed some fight to help South Africa reach a moderate total of 164 before they were wrapped up in 45.1 overs.
Chasing the target, Punia -- who was making her ODI debut and Rodrigues -- gave India an upper hand as the duo shared an 83-run opening partnership. In the 21st over, Rodrigues was trapped in front of the wicket while she tried for a sweep off the bowling of Nondumiso Shangase.
Punia was then joined by Punam Raut (16) and both shared a short 45-run partnership to help India cross the 100-run mark.
Raut however, was dismissed in the 32nd over as she fell in a similar fashion like Rodrigues. Punia and the experienced Mithali Raj (11 off 24) then denied the visitors any further inroads into the Indian batting line-up as they comfortably steered their side to the target in 41.4 overs.
Punia's debut innings in the 50-over format, which came off 124 balls, was laced with eight boundaries. She was adjudged the Player of the Match.
Both the sides will next lock horns on Friday in the second ODI at the same venue.
50 on ODI debut for Priya Punia ?? #TeamIndia #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/mkEPv0wCwD
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) October 9, 2019
Goswami returned with figures of 10-0-42-4 and she was ably supported by fellow seamer Mansi Joshi (2/23) and left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad (3/37).
Lara Goodall was the most successful batswoman for South Africa as she scored a 77-ball 49 which included two hits to the fence, while skipper Sune Luus chipped in with a 57-ball 36.
Electing to field, the Indian pacers were rewarded for bowling a probing line as Goswami and Joshi made early breakthroughs, dismissing openers Lizelle Lee (4) and Laura Wolvaardt (9) cheaply.
While Goswami trapped Lee in front of the wicket, Joshi had Wolvaardt caught behind with an away going delivery.
Luus and Goodall then joined hands and tried to steady the innings, adding 60 runs but Joshi returned to dismiss the South Africa skipper in the 21st over.
It was yet another away going delivery which Luus ended up edging. Sushma Verma comfortably took the catch behind the wickets.
The spinners then took control of the proceedings as Deepti Sharma and Gayakwad bowled in tandem.
In the 26th over, Mignon du Preez (11) was caught by Deepti at cover after she was deceived by Gayakwad in flight.
India skipper Mithali Raj made some excellent bowling changes as Goswami returned to get rid of Marizanne Kapp (10), who tried to play a shot at the leg-side and ended up getting a leading edge which was caught by Deepti at mid-wicket.
Vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur then cleaned up Goodall in her first delivery as South Africa slipped to 130 for 6 in 33.1 overs.
Goswami dismissed Trisha Chetty in the 36th over but replays showed the pacer had overstepped.
The veteran bowler, however, came back to strike twice in the 38th over, cleaning up Nadine de Klerk (8) and Shabnim Ismail (0) to reduce South Africa to 144 for 8.
Chetty was later dismissed by Gayakwad, who also accounted for Nonkululeko Mlaba.