A commentator at the women’s World Cup, Jhulan Goswami found herself fielding what might be a tricky, though hypothetical, scenario presented by anchor Sanjana Ganesan: “Eighteen runs are needed in the final over. Which two batters would you want at the crease and why?”
Without hesitation, Goswami named Harmanpreet Kaur and Richa Ghosh. “Both of them can get the job done. They have those qualities,” she said.
That endorsement spoke volumes about the 22-year-old wicketkeeper-batter’s prowess and the confidence she has instilled in selectors and team-mates.
Richa, with her explosive batting, is rapidly becoming a sensation among cricket enthusiasts - and not just those that follow women’s cricket.
In 43 ODI matches since her debut in 2021 against Australia, ESPNcricinfo tells us, Richa has hit 24 sixes. Only two India batters are ahead of her - Smriti Mandhana with 65 (108 matches) and Harmanpreet with 54 (152 matches). In T20Is, she has hit 36 in 67 matches. Only three others - Smriti, Harmanpreet and Shafali Verma - have more. Richa also has India’s fastest ODI half-century, in 26 balls.
For Richa, a six is more than just the maximum runs she can get from a single ball. It’s an emotion. With a blend of power and impeccable timing, she sends the ball sky-high. In January 2024, BCCI put out a one-minute video of Richa hitting sixes. Three hits. Each better than the other.
She was in training back at home in Siliguri ahead of the World Cup when The Telegraph Online reached out to her.
Her batting wasn’t about hitting sixes. Richa said, “My team’s victory is always my priority. If it’s a single run needed for a win, I would prefer that over scoring a century. Winning for the team and enjoying the game is my motto, and I am willing to bat in any position for the team to achieve that.”
Richa Ghosh attempts to catch the ball as Pakistan's Sidra Amin watches during the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan at Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Oct, 5, 2025. (AP/PTI)
The journey from Siliguri
Richa’s journey began in Siliguri, a town in north Bengal in the foothills of the Himalayas. The town is known for producing many sports stars, particularly in table tennis and football.
Mantu Ghosh, a two-time women's table tennis national champion, and Soumyajit Ghosh, India's youngest table tennis national champion at 19, (both unrelated to Richa) are two prominent names among many
Siliguri is regarded as a nursery of table tennis in West Bengal.
Manabendra, Richa’s proud father and the driving force in her career, was a cricketer—also a wicketkeeper-batter—at the local level and was a member of Bagha Jatin Club.
“There was an option to play table tennis there, but she wasn’t interested,” he said. “I used to take her to the local grounds when I was playing. The first thing I noticed about Richa was how quietly and intently she watched the matches. I asked her if she was interested in batting, and she nodded. She was about four or five years old and couldn’t even hold the big bat properly then.”
Manabendra was determined to give Richa the right cricket training—with a focus on fitness and strength. “Richa had a natural stance and her strokeplay was natural as well,” Manabendra said. “But she was a kid and not that powerful, so hitting big sixes was difficult then.”
The cricket infrastructure in Siliguri was limited, and the journey to the India cricket team involved several stops. The Siliguri district team and, later, the Cricket Association of Bengal were crucial initial steps in her career.
“I have the newspaper cuttings with me. There were selection calls for the Under-19 and Under-23 teams in Bengal. They could hardly get her out. Then she played for the senior Bengal team. Jhulan Goswami was the captain then,” Manabendra recalled. Richa was 14 when she debuted for the Bengal Women’s Senior Cricket team at a T20 match in January 2017.
There was even a time Richa used to bowl medium pace for Senior Bengal. “She has good line and length,” her father said with pride. A batter in the lower end of the order and a medium pacer, that’s how it began. “She would constantly be active, in the field, in the nets and it’s how the wicketkeeping started”, says Manabendra.
'The World Cup trophy is the ultimate goal'
Richa’s skills with the bat and behind the stumps first caught the eye of Shib Shankar Paul, the former fast bowler who was Bengal women’s coach from 2018 to 2020.
Shib Shankar Paul (Sourced by the correspondent)
“She could hit sixes effortlessly while standing in her crease. It was evident that there was something special about her. She also loved keeping. Our advice to her was to focus on fitness. You have to be incredibly fit to keep and bat with equal intensity and success,” Paul told The Telegraph Online. “Richa’s father left no stone unturned to ensure that his daughter’s talent reached its full potential."
Richa idolised two cricketers: former India wicketkeeper-batters Wriddhiman Saha, another Siliguri native, and M.S. Dhoni. So far, she has done enough to make her idols proud, displaying the right skills and right temperament, proving dependable and providing the national team with a distinctive edge, especially with the bat.
At just 16, Richa made it to the national team for the 2020 T20 World Cup. Although she didn't get a game in the tournament, her explosive batting was soon unleashed after her debut against Australia at Junction Oval in Melbourne in February 2020.
She has since also been part of the winning line-up at the inaugural women's Under-19 World Cup. "When she was selected for the T20 World Cup, tears of joy streamed down my face,” her father said. “But the World Cup is the ultimate goal for us.”
There have been a few wicketkeepers from Bengal in international cricket. Probir Sen from the famous 1948 Indian tour to face Bradman’s Australia, Saha, Deep Dasgupta, Shreevats Goswami, and Hrishita Basu who was kept at the Under-19 level are a few names in that list.
Richa adds to that list and continues to pursue her dreams with determination and a quiet confidence. With this latest ODI World Cup being at home, and India among the favourites for the title—it will be their first if they get their hands on it—Richa has a shot at realising her dream. At just 22.