India’s marketing campaign on the ICC Girls’s Cricket World Cup 2025 has been struck by a large setback, as opening batter Pratika Rawal has been dominated out of the match following an ankle damage sustained whereas fielding close to the boundary throughout the group-stage match in opposition to Bangladesh in Navi Mumbai.
The damage occurred when Rawal twisted her ankle on the final ball of the twenty first over whereas trying to cease a boundary, a second that silenced the group immediately. She was carried off the sphere and didn’t return to bat within the rain-affected chase, with Amanjot Kaur stepping in as a short lived opener alongside Smriti Mandhana.
Girls’s World Cup 2025: Pratika Rawal’s alternative forward of semi-final match vs Australia
The Occasion Technical Committee of the ICC Girls’s Cricket World Cup 2025 accredited Shafali Verma’s inclusion as a alternative after assessing India’s request forward of the high-voltage semi-final conflict in opposition to defending champions Australia, scheduled for Thursday, October 30. The committee, chaired by Wasim Khan and together with Abey Kuruvilla, Mel Jones and Gaurav Saxena, confirmed that Rawal’s ankle and knee damage made her unavailable for the rest of the match. This ruling follows an intensive medical analysis by India’s physio group, who confirmed that Pratika would wish weeks of rehabilitation earlier than returning to full health.
Shafali’s choice was a strategic transfer, given her expertise on the worldwide stage and her latest home kind for Haryana within the Senior Girls’s T20 Trophy, the place she has piled up 341 runs in 9 matches at a strike charge of 182. The 21-year-old opener, identified for her explosive begins, final represented India in ODIs in October 2024 in opposition to New Zealand. The choice to usher in Shafali, who was neither a part of the principle squad nor reserves, highlights the group’s need for an skilled power-hitter to stability aggression with intent in opposition to Australia’s formidable bowling unit. The ICC’s affirmation ensures India enter the semi-final with a bolstered prime order, albeit with a bittersweet sense of loss following Pratika’s premature exit.
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Girls’s World Cup 2025: Brings firepower and familiarity to India’s prime order
Shafali’s comeback marks a major second in India’s World Cup journey, reuniting her with Smriti Mandhana on the prime, a partnership identified for fearlessly dismantling assaults within the powerplay. Regardless of being ignored for the preliminary World Cup squad, Shafali’s home resurgence made her unimaginable to disregard. Her latest knock of 70 off 49 balls for India A in opposition to New Zealand A showcased her regained kind and confidence.
With Pratika’s absence leaving a vital hole, Shafali’s inclusion provides each attacking intent and familiarity with high-pressure encounters, having featured in 29 ODIs for India with 4 half-centuries to her title. Her capacity to grab momentum early could possibly be very important in opposition to Australia’s disciplined bowling trio of Megan Schutt, Ellyse Perry and Kim Garth.
In the meantime, Rawal’s damage has been described as a ‘painful blow’ by insiders, given her stellar century in opposition to New Zealand earlier within the group stage, which had reignited hopes of India’s batting depth. As Rawal begins her restoration, the highlight now turns to Shafali, who has the possibility to script her redemption story on the grandest stage of all of them.
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This text was first printed at WomenCricket.com, a Cricket Instances firm.