India defeated South Africa in the final of the ICC Women's World Cup 2025.
Richa Ghosh played a huge role in India’s ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 win. Her exciting big shots in the end of the innings provided Team India a great impetus in their aim to score big or chase down a huge total.
India defeated South Africa to win the final of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 in Navi Mumbai on 2nd November, and two days after the huge victory, Bengal men’s senior bowling coach Shib Shankar Paul revealed that Richa had played through the knockouts with a fractured finger.
The injury occurred while wicketkeeping during the virtual quarterfinal against New Zealand, requiring her to leave the field and miss the following game. Paul confirmed that Richa had fractured her left middle finger, to Sportstar.
“The middle finger of her left hand had a hairline fracture ahead of the semifinal, yet she batted through it. She endured that pain, and that tells us about her immense mental strength. I had told her, irrespective of where she batted, she needed to trust each shot of hers, and she continued to do that,” Paul said to Sportstar.
Battling through the agony, Richa hit an unbeaten 34 off 34 to not only provide excellent assistance for the cool Deepti Sharma, but also helped India reach 298/7 in 50 overs.
The knock contained two sixes, tying the Siliguri girl for the most sixes in a single World Cup (12). Deandra Dottin (2013) and L Lee (2017) were the other players who accomplished the feat.
This is also the most by an Indian player, as Richa surpassed skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who hit 11 sixes in the 2017 edition.
Richa finished the tournament with 235 runs in eight innings and a strike rate of 133.5, including a blistering 77-ball 94 against South Africa in the league stage.
"In a world where everyone is analysing where each player is strong and where a player can’t hit, you need to adapt, develop, and change. Otherwise, you will fall off the radar. Only Richa would know how she fine-tuned her technique. What we are seeing now is the end product. She has practised seven hours, day in and day out. If you are honestly hardworking, you will definitely see results,” Paul added.