Pratika Rawal Replaces Injured Jemimah Rodrigues In India's Squad For Asian Games

A New Voice Steps into the Middle Order 🎶

Good evening, cricket lovers. Like a rhythm that suddenly shifts key, the Indian women's squad has had a change of tempo. As a musician, I've often compared cricket's flow to classical ragas — and today's news is no different.

The Substitution

Top-order batter Pratika Rawal has been called up as Jemimah Rodrigues' replacement for India's women's squad at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Jemimah continues to nurse a hamstring injury picked up with Southern Brave in The Hundred — the same knock that also sidelined her from the Women's Asia Cup in Dubai. The BCCI confirmed her name sits in the 15-member squad submitted for the Games.

Pratika's Journey

A fascinating story here. Pratika made her T20I debut in the ongoing Asia Cup and has been slotted at the crucial #3 position. In the league stage, she registered 22, 10, and 4. But her path hasn't been smooth — a long ankle injury at the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup (against Bangladesh) kept her on the sidelines for ages, and she even missed the WPL with UP Warriorz (who had her for Rs 50 lakh). She hadn't played a competitive T20 since November 2024. So this is a genuine return-to-form moment.

What Lies Ahead

India take on Bangladesh in the semifinal at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday. The Asian Games women's event runs Sept 17–22, with defending champions India up against Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and China.

Full Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), G Kamalini (wk), Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh, N Sree Charani, Nandini Sharma.

Will Pratika find her rhythm in time? Only the crease will tell. 🏏

Source: NDTV (syndicated feed)

Source: NDTV Sports