Richa Ghosh – A fearless warrior on the rise in the lore of women’s cricket

Cricket is a sport they say and yet it somehow brings out our rawest emotions. RCB’s game against the Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium was one such example where emotions ran raw, powered by unreserved adrenaline and love for one’s insignia on the crest. Richa Ghosh, a name hailing all the way from Siliguri was incorporated into one of the most popular cricketing franchises of all time last year.

Questions brew often about whether she is doing justice to all the reputations that are being pinned on her? They called her a hero and many felt that somehow, she remained shackled with a handful of bouts that featured a partial glimpse at her instinctive and enduring brilliance. On Sunday night though, a 20-year-old girl, miles away from her home, miles away from the city that became her very own, Namma Bengaluru, miles away from the ones whom she nurtures a very strong camaraderie with in the royal blue threads, embarked upon an odyssey.

An odyssey that was shrouded in pitch-dark uncertainties, a journey that felt like a leap to the mountain of Mars, a dream that had more traces of one of those petrifying nightmares. But as they say, ‘hell hath no fury than a woman scorned’, in this case though, ‘hell hath no fury than a woman committed to the cause.’

With the scorecard reading 93/3, Richa Ghosh walked in to accompany Sophie Devine. From 49 balls, RCB-W needed 89 runs. Hopes really seemed like a myth back then. It took her five balls to hammer her first boundary which was also more of a ride on lady luck’s back as she edged a ball from Shikha Pandey to the fence.

With five overs to go and Arundhati Reddy into the attack, Richa decided to get her scoring jets on and what followed thereafter was a rampage of the highest order, riddled with madness, belief and most importantly a promise to fight until the light leaves her eyes.

Reddy was sent crashing to the fence as Richa very finely tickled one down the leg-side, announcing her intentions to the world. The over that started with a four ended on a note of further optimism as she went all blasters blazing at Reddy on the last ball, hammering one over deep cover. This was just a booming prelude to the cortex-boggling crescendo that was to follow suit.

One of the finest bowlers of women’s cricket, Marizanne Kapp kept the RCB-W batters silent until that fifth ball when Richa pulled off the impossible. Going down on one knee, she pulled off a half-ramp, a half-scoop and a dash of slice that sent the ball shrieking to the ropes. Kapp had no answer, neither did physics. We wish Issac Newton would have been alive. Possibly ‘Mavity’ would have certainly come into existence then. (This one is for the Whovians).

 Shikha Pandey was fortunate to walk away with an over that featured only a solitary boundary from Richa as her attempted yorker was guided over the backward point fielder. Narrowing it down to the bare minimum essentials, the numbers, is what they call it in cricket, RCB-W needed 17 off the final six.

Needless to say, boundaries were needed in spades and Richa stepped up to the task. First ball from Jonassen who had a tough day in office was tonked over her head as the ball sailed into another galaxy. With a single, a run-out and another double in the mix, RCB needed 8 off 2. Jonassen hared in slowly and steadily as another one was looped up in the slot, inviting Richa to take on the longest boundary and that too with deep mid-wicket in place.

On a night where anything was possible till the time Richa remained at the crease, she picked the absolute bones out of that, muscling the ball beyond the outstretched wingspan of the fielder on the fence. Oh, that was a shot that brought up her half-century too. But then not always do you get to win, no matter how hard you have worked. Even magic meets its end and even the finest of tales have had a tragic hero.

When it all ended with a run-out and a defeat, Richa slumped down to the ground in tears. It was not easy for her to run anymore. She was already existing on fumes, barely catching a breath, realising the importance of every single run, she still dashed. The moment that makes you feel the win is more important than your breath, that is where magic happens. The match may have ended on a note which would leave Richa heartbroken but it carved a superhero and one of the finest possibly in the echelons of WPL. Take a bow, Richa Ghosh.