India batter ruled out of CWC25 following injury
Pratika Rawal sustained the ankle injury while fielding in India's final group-stage game against Bangladesh.
India's opening batter Pratika Rawal has been ruled out of the ongoing ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 following an ankle injury that she sustained while fielding near the ropes, trying to prevent a boundary on the last ball of the 21st over.
Rawal twisted her ankle in the final group-stage game in Navi Mumbai, and was subsequently taken off the field. She wasn't available to bat in the chase that was eventually called off due to rain, as Amanjot Kaur took her place at the top for India.
India have named Shafali Verma as her replacement with a big semi-final matchup scheduled against defending champions Australia on Thursday, 30 October.
Rawal has scored the second-most runs at the ongoing World Cup, amassing 308 runs across six innings at an impressive 51.33 average, bettered only by her opening partner Smriti Mandhana, who leads the run-scoring charts with 365 runs.
The 25-year-old came in clutch with a rollicking century in India's penultimate group-stage game against New Zealand that sealed their semi-final spot in the tournament.
A decorated century for Rawal | CWC25
Watch Pratika Rawal bring up her maiden World Cup century during the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup clash between India and New Zealand.
Verma last played in the 50-over format a year back and was not a part of the squad as Rawal amassed 703 runs at an impressive average of 54.07 in just 14 innings since her debut in December.
However the explosive opening batter came back strongly in the T20I series against England earlier this year to become the second highest run-getter. Following that, the 21-year old was a part of the India A squad in the 50-over format that toured Australia, where she registered a half-century as well.
