July 23: The loudest cheers for Jhulan Goswami this evening were not at Lord's but in a Calcutta club, thousands of miles away. The voices were of trainees at a cricket academy at Vivekananda Park where Jhulan had honed her fast bowling skills in her formative years.

The group of kids, the majority of them girls, had just seen Jhulan bowl what had then appeared to be a match-winning spell of 10-3-23-3 in the World Cup final against England. Around 64km away, in the veteran cricketer's home at Chakdah in Nadia, mother Jharna was too tense to watch the match.

The 53-year-old sat in the prayer room of the house, her eyes closed for the most part. Jhulan's father, retired Indian Airlines employee Nisith Goswami, paced the neighbourhood to calm his nerves.

The picture was just the opposite at the Rising Star Sports Club and Cricket Academy. Clad in maroon jerseys, a group of girls and boys appeared ready to celebrate already as they watched the action unfolding at Lord's on a large screen put up just for the occasion. Jhulan's incisive spell of fast bowling had set up the World Cup final nicely for India to win, or so they thought.

Coach Shubhra Bhaduri, who had trained Jhulan, said the fast bowler had wanted the academy to screen all India matches for the trainees ever since the team entered the quarter-finals.

This morning, the management of Rising Star arranged for a large screen to be put up inside the rectangular tent that is used as a gym. The live telecast was shown using a laptop projection system.

"Jhulan is truly an inspiration for everyone here. We are still in touch and she visits us whenever she can. I want the kids to observe how she plays and learn from her," coach Shubhra said.

Clutching small India flags, 10-year-old Srija Mridha would do a lap of the tent every time she saw Jhulan on the screen. Her energy was matched by brother-sister duo Bivaan and Nibedita Ghoshal, who study at South City International School and have been training in the academy for three months.

Ayantika Guha, an under-23 cricketer, said Jhulan was more than just an international star. "It feels surreal just to think that this is the same ground where she had played for many years," the all-rounder gushed.

Wicketkeeper Pritha Das, from Balurghat, said: "I want to stay focused and maybe someday I will be able to play for my country just like Jhulan has done."

At Jhulan's home in Nadia, her younger sister Jhumpa had got all the neighbours to watch the final together in the same "lucky" clothes they were in when India had defeated defending World Cup champion Australia in the semi-final.

"My mother is the most tense person around. She did not even talk to Didi when she had called after reaching the final. Ma was afraid that talking to her would distract her," Jhumpa said.