Richa Ghosh, member of the Indian women’s cricket team, turned 18 on Tuesday.

For cricket enthusiasts of her hometown Siliguri, there are more reasons to rejoice than her birthday.

Richa, who has consistently performed at the recent tour to Australia, will join Australia’s prestigious Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) 2021 cricket tournament.

Richa, who is now in Queensland to play a Test match against Australia, has signed for Hobart Hurricane, one of the franchises of the WBBL .

She inked the deal just a day before her birthday.

“We are delighted with her back-to-back achievements in Australia. All the people of Siliguri and all sports lovers are proud of her. A local girl after representing the national squad has been selected to play in WBBL. A dream for any cricketer,” said Manoj Verma, the cricket secretary of Siliguri Mahakuma Krira Parishad, the subdivisional sports body of Siliguri.

Verma, who is also secretary of Siliguri Cricket Lovers’ Organisation, hosted a birthday celebration for Richa at the Kanchenjungha Stadium here on Tuesday.

The WBBL will begin from October 14 this year. Richa has joined the tourney with four other colleagues of the Indian team, but for other teams in the league.

Richa Ghosh at the Kanchenjungha Stadium on Tuesday. Passang Yolmo

Shafali Verma and Radha Yadav will represent Sydney Sixer and Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma have signed up for Sydney Thunder.

“She (Richa) is a hard hitter in middle-order, which she has proved during the recent two ODIs by playing two crucial knocks for her team. Apart from that, her wicket-keeping abilities came as an added quality that helped her selection in the league,” said Jayanta Bhowmik, a cricket coach of the city.

The Indian women’s team lost the recently concluded ODI series against Australia by 2-1. But in the first two matches, Richa scored 32 not out and 44, which helped her team to build a decent total against Australia.

“After the Test match, the Indian women’s team will also play T20 matches. We hope to see some more fireworks from her bat then,” said Verma.