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Anjum Chopra unveils her photo collection

Special Correspondent

— Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

PICTURE PERFECT: Former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi with Anjum Chopra at the inaugural ceremony of Journey of Women’s Cricket exhibition.

NEW DELHI: Jhulan Goswami can bowl fast. And she can talk well too. At a function held to unveil Anjum Chopra’s collection of pictures on women cricketers at the Park Hotel in New Delhi on Saturday, Jhulan had the audience spellbound with her honest assessment of the media and the public’s approach towards the game.

When prompted by Anjum to share her experiences, Jhulan left a huge impression on the audience, which included R.K. Pachauri, eminent environmentalist and the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which jointly won the 2007 Nobel Peace prize with the former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, and Test cricketers Bishan Singh Bedi, Vijay Dahiya and Aakash Chopra.

Jhulan, adjudged the 2007 ICC Women’s Player of the Year, narrated how the award changed her life overnight.

“When I left India to receive the award in South Africa, no one knew me, no one recognized me. On my return, I was aghast. Everyone knew me, I was mobbed to the extent I needed security at the Kolkata airport. Normally this privilege is reserved for Souravda (Ganguly),” she said amidst applause.

The function was organized to celebrate the International Women’s Day and Anjum had invited some of her colleagues from the Indian team — Amita Sharma, Karuna Jain and Jaya Sharma.

Bedi complimented the women cricketers. He praised Jhulan for her “honest account of the journey to South Africa and back” and wished the players well. “I am proud of you girls,” Bedi said, hoping for women’s cricket to get greater recognition.

Anjum, who is also co-authoring a book ‘Journey of Women’s Cricket’ with Sunil Kalra, narrated a few anecdotes from her career. “It feels nice to see women’s cricket being encouraged by the society. There is lot of talent around,” observed Anjum, an Arjuna Award winner.

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