Kainat Imtiaz shares a story of her inspiration Jhulan Goswami

Every aspiring cricketer has an idol who inspires to take up the sport and play it gracefully like the person they adore. It becomes a dream for them to represent their country with their idols and so they go to any lengths to watch them play from close quarters to pick up the nuances of the game. We have seen MS Dhoni who used to idolize Adam Gilchrist or Sachin who took to cricket after watching Sunny Gavaskar and Viv Richards play.

But such idolizations are rare between our rival countries India and Pakistan. The rivalry between the two nations is so deep that seeds of idolatry die even if they are sown. The hatred spewed by both countries have also gripped the sport. But in spite of all these tensions, cricketers from both countries have maintained healthy relations with their rival mates.

We saw a picture of such a cordial relation from the Instagram post of a Pakistan woman cricketer named Kainat Imtiaz with her Indian counterpart Jhulan Goswami. Kainat is a pacer in the Pakistani team and she is a huge fan of the Indian speedster. She posted a story with the picture which spoke volumes of the respect she has for the Indian seamer.

Let me share a story with you all. In 2005 i saw the Indian team for the 1st time as the Asia cup was held in Pakistan. I was the ball picker during the tornament… I saw @jhulangoswami. The fastest bowler of that time. I was so impressed that i chose cricket as a career. Specificly fast bowling. ? Its a proud moment for me as after 12 years today in 2017 i am playing this ODI World Cup with one of my inspirations and getting more inspired……. ?❤

A post shared by kainat Imtiaz (@kainatimtiaz23) on Jul 3, 2017 at 6:09am PDT

Kainat’s story

Kainat wrote that she idolized Jhulan from a tender age and took to cricket because of her. Jhulan’s seam bowling impressed her so much that he chose to be a pacer and excel like her idol. She is over the moon to have got the opportunity to play a World Cup game with her Indian senior and it had definitely been a life-changing moment for her. It has been a roller coaster twelve years for her.

From being a ball picker and watching Jhulan charging down the pitch from outside the ground, to playing against her in a mega ICC event, it is definitely a dream-come-true moment for her. It is so heart warming for fans from both the nations to witness such camaraderie between the two rival mates.

Though the India-Pakistan match went against the Women in Green with India defeating them by 94 runs in a low-scoring encounter, the rivalry hasn’t spilled beyond the pitch. This mature relation has earned immense respect from both the countries and fans can’t really get over it.