Landing in Siliguri, the busy northern Bengal town, one might find cut-outs and hoardings of a sportsperson drawing special attention among those of politicians. It should not take time for one to figure out that they are in the hometown of Richa Ghosh, who shot to fame last year with her performance as India’s wicketkeeper in the women’s cricket team’s successful World Cup run, hitting a brisk, boundary-studded knock in the all-important final as the icing on the cake.
The rise of Richa, the first Bengali cricketer to be part of a World Cup winning team—not even Sourav Ganguly, the ‘Dada’ of Indian cricket, has it to his credit—has added raw enthusiasm among young girls aspiring to be cricketers.
Baghajatin Athletic Club, where Richa took coaching for some time, has drawn crowds over the past couple of months. Children as young as 5-6 years old are joining the club. However, the practice takes place on the Siliguri College grounds. No club here has a proper field, which is why the demand for a cricket stadium has grown louder. Practice gets suspended whenever the college has its own events. Pandals erected for functions often damage the field.
Swastika Ghosh, a class 10 student, joined the cricket coaching centre a year and a half ago, encouraged by India’s men’s T20 World Cup win. “The women’s team’s triumph in the 2025 One Day International World Cup has intensified our passion for practice,” she says.
Richa Ghosh’s journey wasn’t easy. Her father, Manabendra, recalls how he had to take loans to buy her good bats. The lack of proper pitches in Siliguri forced Richa to travel frequently to Kolkata—570 km south of Siliguri—just to get enough practice. As memories of those hardships, he has carefully preserved all her broken bats. He hopes his daughter’s success helps improve Siliguri’s sports infrastructure.
Sandipan Chatterjee is senior photographer, Outlook
This article is part of the Magazine issue titled No More A Gentleman's Game dated February 11, 2026 which explores the rise of women's cricket in India, and the stories of numerous women who defeated all odds to make a mark in what has always been a man's ballgame.
