The India women's national cricket team hosted the West Indies women's national cricket team for a white-ball tour, consisting of three T20Is and as many ODIs. After an ODI series defeat against the Australia women's national cricket team, the India women's management decided to give chances to young cricketers and added a few uncapped stars for the white-ball series against the West Indies women's cricket team.  For the T20I series, Nandini Kashyap and Raghvi Bist were handed a maiden call-up for the women's national side. For three ODIs, youngster Pratika Rawal was handed a maiden call-up. Pratika Rawal Receives Her Debut ODI Cap From Smriti Mandhana Ahead of IND-W vs WI-W 1st ODI 2024 (Watch Video).

Pratika Rawal is having a dream ODI debut series against the West Indies women's national cricket team at home. In the first ODI, Pratika played a vital knock of 40 off 69 balls, including 4 fours. She stitched a solid opening stand with veteran Smriti Mandhana of 110 runs. Their crucial opening partnership helped the Indian women to score 314/9 in 50 overs. Renuka Singh's five-wicket haul bundled out the West Indies women for just 103 runs, and they lost the match by 211 runs. In the second ODI, Pratika Rawal smashed her maiden ODI fifty. She was dismissed for 76 off 86 deliveries, including 11 boundaries. The youngster stitched a crucial 110-run opening stand with Smriti Mandhana. Latest ICC Rankings 2024: Smriti Mandhana Moves Closer to Top Spot in ODI, T20I Batting Rankings.

Quick Facts About Pratika Rawal

  • The 24-year-old cricketer was born on September 1, 2000. The opening batter plays for Delhi in the domestic circuit.

  • At a young age, Pratika Rawal was a psychology student who loved studying. She also secured 92.5 percent in her 12th CBSE examinations.

  • Her cricketing journey started at 10, but during her college days, she realised her potential. After that, she decided to follow her passion and work hard to become a professional cricketer.

  • Her father, Pradeep Rawal, took her to the Rohtak Road Gymkhana Cricket Academy, where she trained under coach Sharvan Kumar, who has coached several star cricketers like Ishant Sharma and Nitsh Rana.

  • In 2021, Rawal played an outstanding knock for Delhi, smashing 161 runs off 151 deliveries against Assam. In her first domestic season, the right-handed batter amassed 247 runs at an impressive average of 49.50. In the 2022-23 domestic season, she smashed 552 runs in 14 outings, including five half-centuries.

  • The 24-year-old star cricketer made her ODI debut against the West Indies women's national cricket team on December 22 at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara.

Pratika Rawal has showcased a lot of potential in just two ODI matches she played so far for the national women's side. The youngster became the 150th Indian women's cricketer to don the ODI hat. The 24-year-old can surely become a huge asset at the top order for the national side if she continues to play like this.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 24, 2024 04:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).