Who Is Richa Ghosh? Powers India At Asian Games 2026 For First Gold Medal

If you caught the cricket final today and kept hearing one name over and over, that's Richa Ghosh. She's been building toward a moment like this since she was a kid with a bat too big for her hands.

Who Is Richa Ghosh?

Richa Ghosh plays wicketkeeper-batter for India's women's team. Born on September 28, 2003 in Siliguri, West Bengal. Right-handed, known for hitting big when it matters most, which is basically what she just did to Sri Lanka.

 

 

 

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Richa Ghosh At Asian Games 2026

Today's final in Nisshin, Japan was a rerun of Hangzhou 2023. India against Sri Lanka, again, for gold. Harmanpreet won the toss and chose to bat.

Smriti Mandhana got going early, 79 off 45, and put on 99 with Shafali Verma for the first wicket before Verma fell for 48. Mandhana also became the first woman cricketer to reach 11,000 international runs during that innings. Harmanpreet added 19.

Then Richa walked in around the 15th over and just went after it. She finished unbeaten on 49 off 22 balls, six fours and three sixes, taking India to 216 for 3, the highest total ever posted in Asian Games women's cricket.

Sri Lanka never had a shot after that. Chasing 217, they folded for 69, with Deepti Sharma picking up 3 for 6. India won by 147 runs. A second straight Asian Games gold for the women's team, and the country's first gold of this edition. And it is something that needs to be celebrated.

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Richa Ghosh's Cricket Journey

She started young, really young. Picked up a bat at 4, started playing properly at 8, all because she used to watch her father Manabendra Ghosh play club cricket and wished to play too. There wasn't a proper girls' cricket setup in Siliguri back then, so she trained alongside boys at Baghajatin Cricket Academy. She wasn't even a keeper to begin with. She bowled and batted through the district level, and only took up wicketkeeping later.

She played Under-19 cricket at just 11, and got picked for the senior Bengal team that same year. Her senior Bengal debut came at 14. Things moved fast after that. A strong outing in the Challenger Trophy got her noticed, and at 16 she was the only uncapped player named in India's squad for the 2020 T20 World Cup.

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She played Under-19 cricket at just 11, and got picked for the senior Bengal team that same year. Her senior Bengal debut came at 14. Things moved fast after that. A strong outing in the Challenger Trophy got her noticed, and at 16 she was the only uncapped player named in India's squad for the 2020 T20 World Cup.

But then came the 2025 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup. She made 235 runs across eight innings and that too with a hairline fracture in her left middle finger. This marked the turning point in her career.

From training with boys in Siliguri to smashing an unbeaten 49 in an Asian Games final, Richa Ghosh has come a long way. And this gold medal might just be one of the biggest moments of her young career.

(Image Credits: Instagram)
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