Young wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh on Friday became the seventh Indian cricketer to be picked for the upcoming Women’s Big Bash League and will play for the Hobart Hurricanes.

The 18-year-old is set to make her WBBL debut and has joined Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma (Sydney Thunder), Shafali Verma and Radha Yadav (Sydney Sixers), and Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur (Melbourne Renegades) to feature in the 2021 edition of the Australian T20 league.

Ghosh, who celebrated her 18th birthday this week, has a wealth of experience playing in Australia. She made her international debut at last year’s Tri-National Women’s T20 series in the lead-up to the ICC T20 World Cup and was part of the team that finished as runners-up.

With a T20I strike rate in excess of 100, Ghosh also made her One-Day International debut on Australian soil last month, as part of India’s multi-format Australian tour.

“I’m very excited to be playing in the WBBL this year,” Ghosh said in a statement posted on Hobart Hurricanes website.

“I’m very thankful to the Hurricanes for this opportunity, and I’m looking forward to coming to Tasmania and meeting up with my new teammates.”

Ghosh has been roped in as a replacement for Lizelle Lee, who had recently withdrawn from the tournament, citing a need to take an indefinite break from cricket after countless overseas tournaments, bubbles and quarantine requirements.

With PTI Inputs