Exclusive | 'All I care about is seeing ball and hitting ball': World Cup hero Richa Ghosh on her fearless style

Richa Ghosh was among the standout performers in the recently-concluded Women’s World Cup, her explosive knocks down the order playing an important role in helping India win their maiden ICC title.

Ghosh’s unbeaten 35 off 20 balls, after all, provided a late flourish in India’s group-stage showdown against arch-rivals Pakistan in Colombo. The Bengal wicketkeeper-batter would then single-handedly guide the Women in Blue past 250 in the subsequent game against South Africa with a brilliant 94, with her innings ultimately going in vain.

It was in the knockouts however, where Ghosh highlighted her utility as a pinch-hitter down the order. Her explosive cameo of 26 off 16 balls in the semi-final against Australia at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium helped ease the pressure on Jemimah Rodrigues during India's chase of a record 339-run target.

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And in the final against South Africa at the same venue, the 22-year-old helped the Women in Blue finish within touching distance of 300 with a knock of 34 off 24 deliveries. The score of 298 ended up proving more than enough for India to defeat the Proteas and fulfill their dream of winning a maiden world title.

What sets Ghosh apart from other batters in the Indian team is her fearlessness at the crease and her ability to clear the boundary rope at will. In an exclusive conversation with Rupha Ramani on the latest episode of First Sports, the Siliguri resident opened up on her attacking game and how it came to be.

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“I’ve had this fearless game since I was young. I didn’t care about the opponents or bowlers, even if they happened to be legends of the game. All I cared about was seeing the ball and hitting the ball. This is something that ‘Sir’ (her coach) told me as well, to simply focus on the ball and play it, adding that it is my natural playing style,” Ghosh said during the interaction.

Ghosh opens up on racing against time to play knockouts after injury in NZ game

Ghosh, who represents the Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Women’s Premier League, had nearly missed the knockouts after suffering a hairline fracture on the middle finger of her left hand while keeping during the must-win group-stage encounter against New Zealand.

While she sat out of the subsequent match against Bangladesh, with Uma Chetry taking her place in the playing XI for that game, Ghosh revealed that she was determined to play the semi-finals no matter what, and credited the team physios for aiding in her recovery process ahead of the knockouts.

“I had picked up the niggle during the match against New Zealand while gathering the ball on the leg side. The physios did a great job in helping me recover from the strain in time for the semi-final. I was mentally ready to play at that time. When it comes to playing for your country, you don’t really sweat over niggles. I was determined to play no matter what, because my team needed me,” she continued during the conversation.

After beating New Zealand by 53 runs in a rain-curtailed game in Navi Mumbai, India scripted history in their semi-final showdown against Australia by pulling off the highest successful chase in women’s ODIs.

Harmanpreet and Co would then carry that momentum over to the final, where they beat Laura Wolvaardt’s women by 52 runs to end the country’s drought as far as ICC trophies in the women’s game was concerned.

“We have been telling each other ‘We have finally won the World Cup’. We had been dreaming about lifting the World Cup for a long time. And when we finally fulfilled that dream, we were busy telling each other, ‘We have won the World Cup! We are the champions!’ Everyone was emotional,” Ghosh recalled when asked to describe the atmosphere on the ground after the historic triumph.

Watch the episode here: