Richa Ghosh against Pakistan (Source: AFP)
India and Pakistan are up against each other in a crucial Women's World Cup game and India have posted 247 while batting first. It is the first time Pakistan have bowled out India in women's ODIs, and the Women in Blue would be slightly disappointed with their batting effort.
India are without Amanjot Kaur in this game, the star of the show with the bat in the last match. So, they missed out on one of their power-hitter in the lower middle order, but India still had Richa Ghosh at their disposal.
India struggle for middle-over impetus against Pakistan
India's batting approach, though, was quite timid right from the start. They lost Smriti Mandhana early, and then the middle order batted cautiously, showing no urgency whatsoever to put on the accelerator. So, when India lost Harleen Deol in the 34th over with a team score at 155-4, India had a chance to bring in Richa Ghosh to change the momentum and put some pressure on Pakistan.
However, India decided to go with Deepti Sharma. At that time, it was expected that Richa Ghosh would at least come in at number seven as a wicketkeeper batter, but when India lost Rodrigues in the 35th over, Sneh Rana walked out to bat. Both Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana are reliable batters but are not known for their boundary-hitting abilities, and as a result, India did not hit a single boundary till the 41st over.
Even after that boundary, both the batters struggled to up the ante, and Pakistan managed to control things till the time Richa Ghosh walked out to the middle. Richa Ghosh is a natural stroke player and has changed the complexion of the game multiple times for India in the middle order. She has scored runs at number 4 as well and has batted mostly at number six in ODIs.
| Criterion | At no. 5 | At no. 6 | At no. 7 |
| Innings | 4 | 22 | 9 |
| Runs | 105 | 420 | 136 |
| Average | 35 | 24.70 | 19.42 |
| Strike-rate | 129.62 | 105 | 85.53 |
India try to play safe by demoting aggressive Richa Ghosh
Thus, Richa Ghosh is a capable batter who could have put the pressure on Pakistan from overs 35 to 45, a phase where India could manage just 44 runs. India eventually ended up getting a score close to 250 because of Richa Ghosh's cameo of 35 from 20 balls in the last five overs, and her demotion clearly indicates that India wanted to play it safe.
As evident from the table, Richa Ghosh does not boast of great average in ODIs so far, but her strike-rate has always been good and that is what India needed at that time. Also, she is a young player who has proven herself in the shortest format and she can win India matches if given more game-time.
Deepti Sharma scored runs at a strike-rate of 75.76, while Sneh Rana got her 20 runs at a strike-rate of 60.61, which shows that India lacked intent until the final five overs. Thus, going by how Richa Ghosh played and her overall style of play, India could have got 20-30 runs extra had she batted at number six or seven.
Even if Richa Ghosh had got out early, India had the option of Sneh Rana to stabilise the innings. However, by demoting the wicketkeeper batter, India have shown a negative mindset which could hamper them against big teams where they would need big scores.
.jpg?type=mq "Controversy in India-Pakistan!")
