Why India Bat Richa Ghosh Low at No.8?

India wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh gave an exemplary display of her sheer power and finishing skills during the match against South Africa today (October 9) in the ongoing Women’s World Cup 2025.

The 22-year-old blasted a quickfire 77-ball 94 after coming out to bat at No.8 when India were reeling at 102 for 6 by the 26th over and turned around the game to help the co-hosts finish with 251 in 49.5 overs. In the process, she registered the highest score by any batter in that position in World Cups.

In the previous match too against Pakistan, Richa came out to bat in the same position with just five overs left and played the finisher’s role to perfection with a fiery 20-ball 35.

Given her tremendous batting talent, one might presume to make Richa bat higher up the batting order to utilise her better. While No.8 seems really late for a batter of Richa’s stature to come out, given the current team composition and her recent display, it benefits the team incredibly.

ALSO READ:

• India Tour of Australia 2025 — Full Schedule, Squads, Live Updates And Latest News
• ‘She Can Break Trophy Drought’ – Richa Ghosh Blasts a Record-Breaking 94 in IND-W vs SA-W Women’s World Cup 2025
• Jemimah Rodrigues Concern For India Early in Women’s World Cup 2025; Worrying Trend Surfaces

Why India Bat Richa Ghosh Low at No.8?

While Richa has already shown her finishing abilities before in WPL and India colours, she looks like a whole different beast while batting at No.8.

• The right-hander has a strike rate of 103.4 while batting between 4-7 in ODIs which jumps to 133 at No.8. Furthermore, her dot ball % gets reduced to 46.4 from 49.8, which makes her even more threatening since she is attacking more.

• The biggest advantage of slotting Richa Ghosh at 8 is that it gives incredible batting depth to the lineup, allowing batters up the order to play more freely and take on the attack to the opposition. In case there’s a collapse and she needs to walk in early as Richa did today against South Africa, she also possesses the mindset to soak in the pressure and accelerate the innings according to the different phases of the game.

• She can also combine with the tail better than someone like Deepti Sharma or Amanjot Kaur and also helps India save a big weapon to unleash in the later stages of the game, increasing the threat factor for the opposition.

For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.