Richa Ghosh’s 17-ball 34 was instrumental as India opened their Women's T20 World Cup 2026 campaign with a thumping 64-run victory over Pakistan at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Sunday (June 14).
After Smriti Mandhana’s brilliant half-century (68 off 44 balls), Richa’s cameo propelled India to 170/6 in 20 overs. In the chase, Pakistan’s innings folded for 106 in 17 overs as India’s spin duo of Deepti Sharma (5-10 in 4 overs) and Sree Charani (3-21 in 4 overs) ran through their batting lineup.
On the eve of India's second match against the Netherlands at Headingley, Richa reflected on her impactful knock against the arch-rivals, stating that it has boosted her confidence for the rest of the campaign.
Before the Pakistan game, the wicketkeeper-batter was enduring a difficult lean patch, managing only 18 runs across three consecutive WT20I outings.
“I think the knock (against Pakistan) will help me really well because it gave me confidence,” Ghosh told reporters.
The 22-year-old said her half-century against England in the warm-up fixture also played its part in boosting her self-belief.
“I think I got the confidence from the practice match we played. I'm looking forward to the next matches,” she added.
Richa Ghosh credited captain Harmanpreet Kaur, deputy Mandhana, and head coach Amol Muzumdar for their unwavering support as they told her to trust natural game and focus entirely on net drills.
“I'm just focused on my game. I was trying to work more on my drills etc at the nets. I was in good touch, but I was not getting runs.
“So, I spoke to Harry di (Harmanpreet Kaur) and seniors like Smriti di (Mandhana) and (head coach Amol) Muzumdar sir too. They told me to play my game and just focus. It helped me,” she said.
Ghosh said all those efforts reflected in the outing against England. “So, that innings helped me to come back to form and confidence before the Pakistan game. Yes, the situation was different (in the England match), some early wickets were down, and I had so many overs left with. So, I stayed there and played my own game. So, that's why I got the confidence,” she said.
Ghosh stitched a vital 45-run partnership with Deepti for the sixth wicket against Pakistan, and she was all praise for the veteran all-rounder.
“Not only in the Indian team, I have played with her in Bengal as well in domestic cricket. We often have a great conversation on and off the field. That has helped us because we both know what we can do.
“We know that if the ball is not there to hit, we can rotate strike or we can give both of us a chance to hit big shots. We really know each other really well,” she added.
Despite a dominating start to their T20 World Cup campaign, Richa Ghosh made it clear that India cannot take the Dutch side lightly.
“I saw them before our Pakistan match. I saw their games. They are good bowlers. So, they're doing really well, and I think that's why they're here and we're not taking any team easily. We're just looking forward to it,” she said.
(With PTI Inputs)
