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Pratika repays faith in must-win match
The Delhi batter smashed a stylish 122 off 134 balls and combined with Mandhana for a 212-run partnership
Navi Mumbai: If you watch her play a few overs, it is clear Pratika Rawal has the makings of a fine batter. Apart from her compact technique, she gets into good positions to play her strokes with a square drive to die for.
But when you are competing with the world’s best playing the World Cup, it’s about more than technical skills. It’s about whether you have the ability to play freely when the pressure is on, have the game awareness and the ability to shift gears.
Despite an impressive start to her career, in the 11 months she has been playing international cricket, the 25-year-old stylish opening batter was yet to earn confidence as an impact player. To achieve that, she had to come up with big scores in big games under pressure.
In the tournament, Rawal had got starts in the first three games with 30-plus scores and contributed in a massive 155-run opening partnership with Smriti Mandhana against Australia. But these performances didn’t count for much because the team lost three matches in a row.
During the ongoing ICC Women’s World Cup, she has been counted on as a support cast to the main batters Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Richa Ghosh. Yet despite the promise and technique, she is still a work in progress. Too many dot balls is one of the criticisms often aimed at her and Harleen Deol.
Rawal’s 75 against Australia had come at 78.12 (off 96 balls). She had a big job to do, especially because an experienced Jemimah Rodrigues was dropped against England at Indore.
But Pratika came of age in the all-important game against New Zealand at the DY Patil Stadium, on Thursday. Exceeding expectations, Pratika smashed a stylish 122 off 134 balls and combined with Mandhana for a 212-run partnership in 33.2 overs to provide India the early advantage in their penultimate league match of the tournament.
Drafted into the team in December, 2024, Rawal has faced constant comparisons with the attacking Shefali Varma whom she had replaced. After India’s poor run in the tournament, her game came under more scrutiny.
Coach Amol Muzumdar, however, had backed her fully on the eve of the game and said Pratika had integrated seamlessly into international cricket.
“If I’m not wrong, she (Pratika) averages around 50 and her strike rate is around 82-83. That’s fantastic. And we would like her to continue the way she bats. The entire team is behind her and Harleen as well. I don’t think any discussion has happened over that particular subject. It’s just that I don’t know why this is coming up. She’s been fantastic with the group. She’s taken to international cricket as fish to water,” he said.
Muzumudar also highlighted the opener’s consistency. This is an important context as inconsistency was the main reason for the talented Shafali losing her place.
Handed her ODI cap by Smriti, the 25-year-old forged two century-run partnerships with her in her first two ODIs and made an immediate impact. Her knack of being consistent has also been praised by captain Harmanpreet Kaur. In her first World Cup, she has now scored 308 runs at an average of 51.33, second in the list of most runs scored in the tournament, behind Mandhana’s 331.
Coming into the game against New Zealand, she had an average of 47.04 in 22 ODIs with seven half-centuries and one hundred. During Thursday’s contest, she underlined her consistency by becoming the joint-fastest player to complete 1000 runs in ODIs, equalling Australia’s Lindsay Reeler’s 37-year-old record of 23 innings. She is also second in the list of most runs in a calendar year (976), behind Mandhana (1259). This year, both the Indian openers broke Belinda Clark’s long-standing record of 970 runs in 1997.
I’m very happy with how the team began the tournament, it was quite special. I just want to bat as much as I can. That’s the mindset coming into the World Cup,” she told broadcasters after the innings.
“Initially I was struggling a bit, I was not able to middle the ball. I actually held my head down and batted through the innings and I am very happy with the way we ended on a good note.”
Rather than going to hit and giving away the wicket, the Delhi-batter played a typical ODI innings, accelerating after getting set. Batting at 11 off 26 at one point in the powerplay, she took her time but soon was going neck and neck with Mandhana, before the senior pro shot ahead with her big hits.
It was an innings full of attractive strokes with a couple of square drives off pace bowlers having the spectators on their feet. Apart from hitting 13 fours, she also showed she has the ability to clear the ropes with two two sixes, getting her runs at a strike rate of 91.04.
