Richa Ghosh’s fairytale year keeps getting better. Days after helping India win the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup, the 22-year-old wicketkeeper-batter was appointed as a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in the West Bengal Police. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee personally handed over the appointment letter during a grand felicitation ceremony at Eden Gardens on Saturday, November 8.
CAB recognises Richa Ghosh
Richa, who also received the prestigious Banga Bhushan award, was presented with a golden bat and ball by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). The association also announced a cash reward of Rs 34 lakh, a lakh for every run she scored in the final. Her innings was extremely crucial, as it gave a much-needed impetus at the end against South Africa.
The Bengal government honoured her with a gold chain, acknowledging the youngster’s contribution to India’s World Cup triumph. With this, Richa joined a rare list of cricketers, including Deepti Sharma (UP Police), Mohammed Siraj (Telangana Police) and Joginder Sharma (Haryana Police), to have received a DSP rank for sporting excellence. It is quite fascinating since only last year Ghosh gave her 12th exams, due to which she had to miss out on a bilateral series too.
Bengal celebrates its first World Cup winner
The evening at Eden Gardens was one filled with pride. Sharing the stage with former India captains Sourav Ganguly and Jhulan Goswami, Richa stood tall as Bengal’s first-ever World Cup winner in women’s cricket. Ganguly praised her fearless batting, noting how she thrived in one of the toughest roles in the game.
“I used to open the innings but know how difficult is the role of No. 6 and No. 7 batters in white-ball cricket. You get minimum balls to get maximum runs. Richa’s strike made the difference for India’s campaign in this World Cup,” he said.
Jhulan Goswami, who played a massive role in identifying Richa’s talent back in 2013 during a state talent hunt, spoke fondly of watching her journey come full circle. “It was 2013 when Bengal cricket was not doing well. So I requested CAB officials to start a talent hunt programme. As they gracefully agreed, I had the opportunity to move to the districts and that was how I first saw Richa,” said Jhulan.
Richa’s proved to be the best keeper at the recently concluded World Cup as she hammered 235 runs in eight matches at an average of nearly 40 and a strike rate of 133.52, the best among all the players in the tournament. Her fearless 94 against South Africa in Vizag was perhaps one of the best innings by a youngster in the tournament as well.
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