Cricket Kitchen

Destructive Richa Ghosh hopes to emulate Dhoni and Perry, and become a World Cup winner once again

April 28, 2025

When Richa Ghosh walked in to bat for Bengal in the rain-affected Senior Women’s T20 Trophy semi-final in November 2022, Himachal needed to bowl only five more balls to force a result. Bengal had to get 14 runs without losing a wicket. A washout would take them into the final.

Through a steady drizzle, Ghosh slog-swept the fourth ball of the over into the vacant deep-midwicket stands. Her six did two things: in the time it took the fielder to retrieve the ball, the drizzle got heavier, and with Bengal now needing six off two, Himachal panicked into making some fielding changes. More time wasted.

Just when the bowler was ready to deliver the final ball, with Bengal needing five, the umpires decided to call off the game, sealing Bengal’s qualification for the final.

Until a few years ago, a six was a rare event in women’s cricket. But the game has undergone a revolution in recent times, and 21-year-old Ghosh is one of the young faces representing that change in India.

Since making her T20I debut in 2020, she has hit a six every 20th ball. Among those who have hit at least 20 sixes in T20Is in this period, only Deandra Dottin of West Indies has cleared the boundary more frequently. It is this skill that has got Ghosh contracts in the WBBL and the Hundred.