The Indian women’s team has suffered a massive blow ahead of their historic one-off Test match against England at the iconic Lord’s Stadium as opening batter Pratika Rawal has been officially ruled out of the clash due to a knee injury.
The right-handed batter sustained the injury while fielding during an India A 50-over match against England A in Taunton. Head coach Amol Muzumdar confirmed the development during his pre-match press conference, revealing that Rawal suffered a severe cut on her knee that required multiple stitches, making it impossible for her to recover in time for Friday’s historic match.
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In her absence, the national selection committee has drafted top-order batter Priya Punia into the squad as her official replacement. Punia, who brings the experience of 12 ODIs and three T20Is, was already in England with the India A team and stayed back as cover. She hit the nets immediately during India’s training session on Wednesday to prepare for the Test.
This Test match is a crucial opportunity for the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian team to rebuild their confidence following a highly disappointing campaign at the recent ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England. The team faced immense criticism back home after failing to make an impact in the tournament.
India’s campaign was a story of massive highs and crushing blows as they endured a tough group-stage exit. They started brightly in Group A, securing a convincing 64-run victory over arch-rivals Pakistan after posting 170 for 6. They followed it up with a dominant 95-run win against the Netherlands, hammering 209 for 5.
However, their momentum slowed down with an embarrassing 6-wicket defeat to South Africa at Old Trafford, where they failed to defend 158.
While India bounced back temporarily by defeating Bangladesh by 5 wickets, their semi-final hopes came crashing down in their final group match against Australia at Lord’s.
Despite scoring a competitive 170 for 4, Australia chased it down with 6 wickets to spare. Finishing 3rd in the group with 3 wins and 2 defeats, India failed to reach the knockout stages and that’s why this one-off Test match holds plenty of significance.
Updated Indian squad for one-off Test against England: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (Vice-Captain), Shafali Verma, Priya Punia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Yastika Bhatia (Wicketkeeper), Richa Ghosh (Wicketkeeper), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Singh Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, and Rajeshwari Gayakwad.
