India’s long-awaited tryst with a ODI World Cup came true under floodlights in Navi Mumbai. And at the heart of that triumph was a 22-year-old from Siliguri, smiling behind the gloves, and striking fear with the bat.
For Richa Ghosh, India’s wicketkeeper-batter, the journey to the podium wasn’t about reinventing herself. It was about clarity — a word that kept returning to her vocabulary as she spoke about India’s World Cup-winning run.
“My main job was to finish innings strongly by scoring quickly in the final overs,” Richa said on JioStar’s Follow The Blues.
“Amol sir made everyone’s role in the team very clear. For me, it was to play fearless cricket, look for the big shots, and finish the innings,” she added.
Having fallen short twice before, India lifted their maiden Women’s ODI World Cup title on Sunday, after defeating South Africa by 52 runs.
Richa’s late cameo with a blistering 34 off 24 balls at No. 7, powered India to a formidable 298, a total that proved beyond Laura Wolvaardt’s team.
“Whenever I got the chance to bat, my focus was on applying the finishing touches. Scoring those extra runs reduces the pressure on our team and gives us a better chance to win,” she said.
The finisher India didn’t know it needed
Assigned the finisher’s role by head coach Amol Muzumdar, Richa spent months fine-tuning her game to balance aggression with composure.
“Before the World Cup, I really focused on spending more time at the crease and building my innings,” she recalled. “It was all about keeping the scoreboard ticking, playing grounded shots, and holding up one end.”
Her numbers reflected the evolution. Across eight innings, Richa scored 235 runs at a strike rate of 133.52, the highest among Indian batters, while matching West Indies’ Deandra Dottin’s record for most sixes (12) in a single edition of the Women’s World Cup.
Muzumdar’s approach, she said, made all the difference. His insistence on trust and communication created an environment where every player knew their role.
“He gave me the confidence to back my strengths under pressure,” Richa added.
Bengal roots, global impact
The daughter of an umpire, Richa’s cricket story began early. Her potential was spotted when she was just eight.
By the time she made her domestic debut for Bengal, she had caught the eye of one of Indian cricket’s greats: Jhulan Goswami.
“Jhulan didi has played a huge role in my journey,” Richa said. “She taught me how to adapt to different situations and guided me even after I made it to India. She’s been like a mentor.”
It’s no coincidence that both hail from Bengal, that very region which continues to produce cricket’s unflappable characters.
“We didn’t even know how to celebrate!”
Richa said the team was too overwhelmed to even comprehend what they’d achieved as Harmanpreet Kaur’s catch sealed the final.
“We were so overwhelmed that we didn’t even know how to celebrate! Harman didi was speechless, Deepti didi couldn’t process it. We were all just living in that moment.”
“We made a pact to only sing it after we lifted the World Cup trophy,” Richa laughed. “Every player contributed to it in some way. So, the moment we won, we knew we had to sing it right there on the ground. It was magical.”
The rise of the finishers
If India’s victory was a collective masterpiece, the unsung brushstrokes came from the lower order.
Richa’s 94 against South Africa in the league stage was one of the standout knocks of the competition, a performance that underlined why India’s batting depth had become their biggest strength.
From Deepti Sharma’s partnerships to Amanjot Kaur’s rescue acts, India’s lower order thrived on fearlessness — a quality Richa embodied to perfection.
By the end of the World Cup, she wasn’t just India’s finisher. She was the symbol of a generation that no longer flinches in the final overs.
“Play fearless cricket” — and finish what others start
In the end, Richa’s mantra was simple, almost deceptively so: trust your role, trust your swing.
“Amol sir told me to play fearless cricket. That’s what I did.”
And as the fireworks lit up Navi Mumbai, it was hard not to notice that the girl from Siliguri had finished not just an innings, but a story India had waited decades to complete.