Image Credit- BCCI
Richa Ghosh leaving the pitch at number three in an
ODI—and doing it twice in a row—is remarkable. However, Amol Muzumdar believes
“that’s the best spot for her” in his second white-ball series as the
women’s team’s head coach. In the second ODI on Saturday, Ghosh did no harm at
No. 3 by hitting a career-best 96 against Australia. Although India lost the
match by three runs, Muzumdar called it a “fantastic knock”.
Harmanpreet Kaur and Muzumdar seem to want to start
over, especially because India will be hosting the 2025 ODI World Cup and won’t
be under any pressure to win the Women’s Championship. In this series, they
gave debuts to spinners Saika Ishaque and Shreyanka Patil. Ghosh was given a
fresh role in the batting lineup.
Even though she only began wearing the blue jersey,
she has demonstrated her power hitting abilities as a finisher in both ODIs and
T20Is. Ghosh has batted at number five or lower fifteen times in her eighteen
ODI innings. She played against Australia in Mackay in September 2021, but that
was her only outing at No. 4, and it ended in a duck. This is the first time
she has batted at the top of the order.
To put India’s No. 3 ranking in ODIs into perspective,
since the beginning of 2020, they have tried six players, including Ghosh, with
Yastika Bhatia appearing there the most: eighteen times. Punam Raut made six
appearances at the position in 2021. In 2021, Jemimah Rodrigues has batted
twice while Deepti Sharma and former captain Mithali Raj have each played three
times. Naturally, India has had four head coaches since 2018, each with their
own distinct methods and styles.
Deepti Sharma’s first-ever five-wicket performance in
an ODI against Australia on Saturday reduced the target to 259 runs. In the
seventh over of the chase, India lost Bhatia, and Ghosh left.
She played conservatively at early, appearing a little
uneasy, making 29 deliveries out of her first 50. Even though there was dew,
Australia’s spinners were getting the ball to turn by tossing it up to take
advantage of the favourable circumstances. With some balls going flatter and
others curving away, it kept the batters guessing. India needed 145 runs from
the next 25 overs with Rodrigues and Ghosh in the middle at this point in the
chase.
Ghosh reached her third ODI fifty in 74 balls despite
being dropped twice. She continued despite experiencing cramps after the 36th
over.
After the 37th over, she ran out of options and went
straight into finisher mode, smashing seven fours in quick succession – clean
and exactly what Ghosh is known for. But as India’s score approached 40 off 38,
Ghosh was removed by Annabel Sutherland, who was outstanding with three
wickets. Ghosh attempted a cover shot, but Phoebe Litchfield caught her in the
ring.
There is hardly much to be said from a sample size of
just two games. But it might not be that strange to see Ghosh leave at No. 3
for the foreseeable future.