What India feared has happened. India’s Women’s T20 World Cup campaign has suffered a setback with off-spinner Shreyanka Patil being ruled out of the remainder of the tournament due to an ankle ligament injury. The injury, sustained during India’s group-stage clash against the Netherlands, looked quite worse. She went for scans right after the incident but is now completely ruled out of the marquee tournament.
The 22-year-old had to leave the field after bowling just one delivery in Headingley. Attempting to cut off a single, Shreyanka twisted her right ankle awkwardly while trying to turn and release a throw. She immediately collapsed in pain and was unable to put any weight on the injured leg. Medical staff rushed onto the field before she was stretchered off and taken for scans.
The Event Technical Committee approved India’s replacement request on Thursday night, with uncapped leg-spinner Prema Rawat drafted into the squad for the remainder of the tournament.
Who is Prema Rawat, India’s replacement for Shreyanka?
While she is yet to make her international debut, Prema Rawat is one of the most promising young spinners in the domestic circuit. While there were a few names India could’ve gone with to replace Shreyanka, the management has gone ahead with Prema, who will get massive exposure.
The 24-year-old represents Uttarakhand and Central Zone in domestic cricket and has been quite phenomenal in the last two seasons. Interestingly, Rawat initially pursued hockey before switching her focus entirely to cricket.
Her biggest breakthrough came in the Women’s Premier League (WPL). Royal Challengers Bengaluru signed her for Rs 1.2 crore ahead of the 2025 season and retained her through the Right to Match card for WPL 2026. She played a useful role in RCB’s title-winning campaign earlier this year.
RCB head coach Malolan Rangarajan even described her as an “Indian version of Georgia Wareham” because of her all-round skill set and leg-break bowling.
Rawat was already in England with the India A side and had impressed selectors through consistent performances. Earlier this year, she picked up eight wickets at an average of 9.62 in the Women’s Asia Cup Rising Stars tournament while playing for India A.
Meanwhile, last year, when India A toured Australia in McKay, Rawat took seven wickets in T20 games as well. So, she’s a natural wicket-taker. She might not replace Shreyanka directly in the playing XI as India have Radha Yadav for that.
