Cricket's Oscar goes to Julan Goswami

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Johannesburg, Sep 11: India's lone representative in the ICC annual awards speedster Jhulan Goswami was named as the Women Cricketer of the Year 2007, while master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has made it to the ODI Team of the Year.

The lanky Bengal pacer defeated Aussie Lisa Sthalekar and Claire Taylor of England's stiff challenge enroute to the coveted title.

Earlier, the long list of players for the ICC awards, regarded as 'Oscars' of cricket included three Indians -- pacer Zaheer Khan and veteran leggie Anil Kumble in the 'Test Player of the Year' category and dashing left-hander Yuvraj Singh's in the ODI category, but none of them could make it to the pruned list.

Jhulan's new ball partner Rumeli Dhar also failed to make the cut in the shortlist after being named in the initial list.

The 24-year-old Bengali girl has had a remarkable year, averaging 12.40 in Test matches and 21.80 in ODIs. Her phenomenal accuracy with the ball is illustrated by her economy rate of 2.10 in Tests and 3.17 in ODIs.

Her best bowling performance came against England when she took 5 for 33 in the first innings of a Test at Taunton, to set up a five-wicket victory for her side.

She is also a useful batsman and her top score in international cricket also came in this voting period when she hit 69 in another Test against England, at Grace Road, Leicester.

This is the second year of the Women's Player of the Year award with women's cricket having been integrated into the ICC in 2006.

Jhulan was presented with the award by India wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Accepting the award, Jhulan said, ''It's a dream come true for me. I am very excited to win this award. It is very unexpected because the other candidates are great players. It is very special for me.

''There was no nomination from India in the men's categories so it is even more special to do this for my country and make up for that disappointment. It was a wonderful pleasure to receive this award from the India (Twenty20) captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as he is such a good player.

India women's cricket has enjoyed a good year in terms of recognition. With Anjum Chopra winning the coveted Arjuna award, a first for a female cricketer.

Stressing the point Jhulan said, ''This award does a lot for women's cricket. I think women's cricket is growing, slowing by slowing. We are getting more and more coverage now in the media and that can only be a good thing for game as it encourages more girls to take up the game and improves the overall levels of performance.'' Jhulan is the second winner of this award after former Australia captain Karen Rolton to the prize last year.

For the Women's Cricketer of the Year, each ICC Member that played international cricket during the voting period was eligible to nominate two players.

UNI