Sometimes the hardest part of a cricket career is not scoring runs. It is sitting out and watching. Four months after hobbling off the field during a rain-hit dead-rubber ODI World Cup game against Bangladesh, Pratika Rawal is back in India’s ODI squad. The BCCI confirmed on Tuesday that the 21-year-old batter has completed her rehabilitation at the Centre of Excellence and has fully recovered from the ankle injury that cut short her 2025 Women’s World Cup campaign.
Rawal was injured on October 26 while fielding in Navi Mumbai and did not play again in the tournament. Shafali Verma replaced her in the squad and went on to play a major role in the final. Since then, Rawal has been out of competitive cricket, focusing entirely on recovery.
Now, she has been added as the 16th member for the three-match ODI series against Australia, which begins on February 24 in Brisbane, with the remaining games in Hobart. Perth will host the one-off Test that follows. Rawal had already been named in the Test squad earlier.
Why INDW need Pratika Rawal in ODIs
Rawal’s return matters because of how quickly she had established herself. Since making her ODI debut in December 2024, she has scored 1110 runs in 23 innings at an average of 50.45, with two hundreds and seven fifties. At the World Cup, she had put together scores of 37, 31, 37, 6 and 122 before the injury struck.
Even during her time away from the field, she was rewarded with a Grade C central contract from the BCCI earlier this month. She was also picked up by UP Warriorz for the 2026 WPL, though injury kept her from featuring. It is fascinating that the 50-over remains the only format played by Rawal as of yet. This might change soon as she might feature in the one-off Test against Australia, which will also be the farewell match for Alyssa Healy.
Updated India women’s squad for the Australia ODIs
Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Uma Chetry (wk), Kashvee Gautam, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Pratika Rawal.
India women Test squad vs Australia
Harmanpreet Kaur [C], Smriti Mandhana [VC], Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Amanjot Kaur, Richa Ghosh [WK], Uma Chetry [WK], Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh Thakur, Sneh Rana, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sayali Satghare
India women’s team tour to Australia
| Format | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| T20I | February 15 | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney |
| T20I | February 19 | Manuka Oval, Canberra |
| T20I | February 21 | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide |
| ODI | February 24 | Allan Border Field, Brisbane |
| ODI | February 27 | Bellerive Oval, Hobart |
| ODI | March 1 | Bellerive Oval, Hobart |
| Test | March 6-9 | WACA Ground, Perth |
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