KOLKATA: Women cricketers hogged the limelight at the Cricket Association of Bengal's (CAB) annual awards function at the Netaji Indoor stadium here on Saturday.
While former Bengal players Gargi Banerjee, Lopamudra Banerjee and Mithu Mukherjee received the Kartick Bose Lifetime Achievement awards, it was Bengal's greatest woman cricketer Jhulan Goswami who was the star attraction of the day.
The former India pacer who retired playing her final match against England at Lord's in September, holds the record for most wickets in international cricket.
Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly was all praise for Goswami's contribution to the game. "You get to see only one Jhulan Goswami in a lifetime," he stated. Goswami, who herself presented a number of general awards on the day, was happy to be honoured by her state association. "It's always special to be recognised by the people with whom you have grown up playing the game," she stated. Enjoying her retirement life, Goswami said she is yet to decide on her future. "I have not thought about what to do," she said. "The CAB has asked me to mentor the women's team. This is something which I have not done before. The women's Indian Premier League is also coming. So, let's see," she stated.
India players Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh were also handed special awards.
Uday Bhanu Banerjee, Sambaran Banerjee and Ashok Malhotra also got the Kartick Bose Lifetime Achievement awards. Anustup Majumdar (2019-20) and Shahbaz Ahmed (2020-21 and 2021-22) got the best cricketer of the year award.
