Richa Ghosh: Upcoming star of Women's cricket

According to former captain of the Indian women's team Jhulan Goswami, "Richa has embraced responsibility as a wicketkeeper... She won't just be an additional all-rounder; she will provide a lot of volume and value with batting skills that includes hitting big sixes and scoring quickly too."

Due to a lengthy period of bad form, Ghosh had little success in international cricket until the game against South Africa. Part of the problem was that she was playing as a specialist hitter for India and her fielding wasn't too impressive on that day. Her efforts in domestic cricket were also poor compared to other wicketkeepers and medium pace bowlers who could also bat well. However, she improved on her batting and became a useful wicketkeeper too.

Grabbing her chance

Despite her lacklustre performances, Smriti Mandhana, the series' stand-in T20I captain, kept Ghosh for the third T20I, although this time as a wicketkeeper. Ghosh stepped into the final T20I against South Africa with no prior experience in international cricket and claimed a simple caught-behind off Sinalo Jafta.

"Once she received confirmation from the Indian team management that she is being considered as a wicket-keeping option, Richa began to concentrate harder on her keeping in the Bengal team set-up as well, and maintained wicket more frequently for the Bengal senior team," Bengal head coach Rituparna Roy said.

Taniya Bhatia stood behind the stumps for the England tour's one-off Test and three one-day internationals after the South Africa series. Ghosh was told to take over the gloves in T20Is due to Taniya's mediocre batting performance. Ghosh grabbed seven wickets and scored 28 runs off 21 balls in three T20Is. Her rise to prominence began in the 50-over warm-up game during the Australian tour, when she was responsible for four dismissals.

Cementing her place 

India selected Ghosh for the 50-over team based on her T20I batting record. With the ODI World Cup coming, and the conclusion of the Australia trip in 2021, she cemented her place as the first-choice keeper for the New Zealand tour. Prior to the start of the 2022 World Cup, Ghosh became the first Indian woman to score an ODI 50, doing so in just 26 balls during a bilateral series against New Zealand. Ghosh's future, according to Goswami, is something they are all looking forward to. Things appear to be looking well for the young player.