By Admin 
Five fours and four sixes from two games — these stats of that of an explosive middle-order batter won’t really make one sit up and take notice. But garnish the matter with some context, and it would tell us a gripping story of grit, perseverance, and determination.
Richa Ghosh contributed 235 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 133.52 in India’s victorious run at the recently concluded Women’s ODI World Cup. But unbeknownst to many, 60 of those runs, including the aforementioned nine boundaries, came in the knockouts while Richa was battling through a throbbing pain in her finger.
“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,” revealed Shib Shankar Paul, Richa’s senior Bengal team coach.
Richa sustained the injury while collecting a Renuka Singh delivery behind the stumps during the game against New Zealand.
Shib Shankar, lovingly called Maco da in Bengal cricketing circles, started training Richa when she was 13. Since then, he says he has brought her up like “my own daughter.”
On Monday, the current Bengal men’s fast-bowling coach was seen on a video call with Richa right after stumps at a Ranji Trophy game in Agartala.
After the call, Shib Shankar shared a bit of how their own conversation went while he was climbing up the stairs of the Maharaja Bir Bikram Stadium.
“I congratulated her. Of course, she hasn’t slept the entire night. None of the other team members have. It has been a long wait of 52 years.
“This moment won’t come back. It’s a different feeling altogether… celebrations are in order, obviously, once she is back”.