'Fractured middle finger' couldn’t stop India's unsung hero from etching Women's World Cup record few even realised

Richa Ghosh played through a fractured finger in the Women's World Cup knockouts and still equalled a tournament record in the final

The 2025 Women’s World Cup was historic not just for the Indian team as a whole, but also for several players who etched their names in the record books with standout individual performances. Among them was wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh, whose MS Dhoni-like finishing down the order went largely unnoticed once India’s top order began firing in the latter half of the tournament. In fact, few realised that she had equalled a World Cup record in the final against South Africa with yet another aggressive cameo.

Indian players celebrate their win over South Africa in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup final match at DY Patil in Navi Mumbai(Raju Shinde)

However, two days after the final, Bengal men’s senior bowling coach Shib Shankar Paul revealed that Richa had played through the knockouts with a fractured finger. The injury had occurred while wicketkeeping during the virtual quarterfinal against New Zealand, forcing her off the field and to miss the following game. Speaking to Sportstar, Paul confirmed that Richa had suffered a fracture on the middle finger of her left hand.

“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. I had told her, irrespective of where she batted, she needed to trust each shot of hers, and she continued to do that,” Paul said.

Battling through the pain, Richa scored an unbeaten 34 off 34 to not only act as a perfect support for well-composed Deepti Sharma, but also helped India up their run rate to finish with a winning total of 298 for seven - the second highest by a team in World Cup finals. The knock included two sixes that saw the Siliguri girl equal the record for the most maximums in a single World Cup edition (12). Deandra Dottin (2013) and L Lee (2017) were the other players to achieve the feat. This is also the highest-ever by an Indian player as Richa surpassed captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who had smashed 11 sixes in the 2017 edition.

Richa ended the tournament with 235 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 133.5, which included a fiery 77-ball 94 against South Africa in the league stage. Besides the record for most sixes, the 22-year-old was also the highest run-getter in the slog overs (41-50), with 185 runs at a strike rate of 165.17, and through the course of the tournament became the fastest Indian to 1000 ODI runs.

"In a world where everyone is analysing where each player is strong and where a player can’t hit, you need to adapt, develop, and change. Otherwise, you will fall off the radar. Only Richa would know how she fine-tuned her technique. What we are seeing now is the end product. She has practised seven hours, day in and day out. If you are honestly hardworking, you will definitely see results,” Paul added.