India’s fielding – or catching, more specifically – has once again been under the scanner at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. There were at least a couple of chances missed in the opener against New Zealand, and on Sunday against Pakistan too. But amid these handful of drops, Richa Ghosh’s stunner of a catch behind the stumps in Dubai against Pakistan stands out.
The context is key too because the batter was Fatima Sana, Pakistan’s captain who has the knack for going big lower down the order. In a batting lineup where intent has often been questioned, Fatima is a breath of fresh air. She had also spoken about how the addition of a power-hitting coach has helped increase her belief that she is capable of striking big. She was the best batter on display against Sri Lanka as Pakistan got off to a winning start.
Against India, Pakistan were in a spot of bother but Fatima walked in to bat at No 7 with a decisiveness that wasn’t seen from her teammates. And in trying to up the ante, she had been dropped by Asha Sobhana at short-third, a simple chance by all means. It was Asha’s 2nd sitter missed on the day as well.
WHAT. A. CATCH. 🤯#RichaGhosh‘s superb reflexes see 🇵🇰 skipper #FatimaSana‘s back off #AshaSobhana‘s bowling! 🔥
What total will Pakistan post? 💭
📺 Watch #WomensWorldCupOnStar 👉 #INDvPAK LIVE NOW pic.twitter.com/LoTtUc9JUA
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) October 6, 2024
And in this setting, Asha came on to bowl the 14th over and Fatima went about rubbing salt into her wounds. Off the fourth ball, she slog swept for a four, which was nearly a six. Off the fifth ball, she swept again but this was the more conventional one, through square leg for back-to-back boundaries. But to Asha’s credit, she didn’t fire one in the next ball to get out of the over safely. She gave it flight, slowed it down, and let the ball turn away from a fourth stump line. Fatima was early into the shot, and another attempted slog sweep caught the toe-end of the bat.
Then came Richa Ghosh. The broadcast showed later that the reaction time was just 0.44 seconds. The ball was moving away from Richa and nearly behind her shoulder, as she stuck her right glove out and grabbed a one-handed blinder. And considering the shot – a slog-sweep- that sort of an edge would have been highly unexpected and difficult to respond as well. It was redemption for Asha with the ball, but also for Richa behind the stumps, as she too had put down a high catch against New Zealand.
