Richa Ghosh Slams Siliguri’s Poor Facilities For Women Cricketers After World Cup Win

Star India wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh has said that she is grateful to her family for taking her to Kolkata to ensure that she received proper training facilities as a budding cricketer, adding that her hometown, Siliguri, doesn’t have adequate facilities for women’s cricketers to date.

Richa, one of the key architects of India’s historic Women’s World Cup win, amassed 235 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 133.52,

the highest in the tournament and ranked among the team’s top five scorers.

Batting at No. 7, Richa delivered vital late-order firepower, smashing a quickfire 34 off 24 deliveries in the final against South Africa at the DY Patil Stadium, where India triumphed over Laura Wolvaardt’s team by 52 runs.

“I would credit my family

first for my success. They played a massive role in ensuring I moved to Kolkata for practice. Yes, I could practice here in Siliguri, but there wasn’t a good-quality ground where I could play games and improve myself,” Richa said while speaking to the media in Siliguri.

“There still aren’t proper facilities here. It is entirely my family’s credit that they decided to move to Kolkata and I got enough opportunities to reach where I am today,” Richa added.

Siliguri, located in the north-eastern part of West Bengal, lies at the foothills of the Himalayas and is surrounded by lush tea gardens. A proper cricket ground is expected to be a rarity there. But one would expect that Richa’s success would propel the authorities to build and improve facilities.

Overall, Richa smashed 12 sixes in the World Cup, equalling Deandra Dottin’s record for the most sixes in a single edition of the tournament.

Richa, the second wicketkeeper from Siliguri to play for India after Wriddhiman Saha, now boasts a brilliant trophy haul: the Women’s World Cup, U-19 World Cup, Women’s Premier League title, Asian Games gold and Commonwealth Games silver.