Right at the business end of the tournament, the Indian women's cricket team suffered a major setback when their in-form opener Pratika Rawal was ruled out of the remaining Women's World Cup matches due to knee and ankle injuries sustained during their last league game against Bangladesh at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

The 25-year-old Rawal injured her right ankle while fielding in the 21st over, as her foot got stuck in the turf while running from deep midwicket to stop the ball. She collapsed in pain but managed to walk off the field with the support staff’s assistance.


Pratika's exit is a significant loss for India, given her exceptional performance in the tournament, where she scored 308 runs in six innings at an average of 51.33. She had also achieved her maiden World Cup century against New Zealand and became the joint-fastest to reach 1000 runs in women's ODIs.

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She scored 308 runs in the league stage of the tournament — including a century in a decisive win over New Zealand.

Pratika Rawal has been replaced by Shafali Verma, who opened with Smriti Mandhana in the semifinal and is all set to open the innings against South Africa in the final as well.

Shafali was leading Haryana in the National Women's T20 when she was summoned from Surat to Mumbai on SOS after Rawal sustained a hairline fracture on her ankle while fielding in the last group-stage game against Bangladesh.

“What happened with Pratika, as a sportsperson, it wasn’t a good thing. No one wants any sportsperson to sustain such an injury. But God has sent me here to do something good,” Shafali told mediapersons ahead of the marquee semifinal clash against Australia.

Shafali had hit a 24-ball 55 in her last outing for Haryana and also had a string of good scores for India A during their recent tour of Australia.

While her record in WODIs is modest — an average of 23 across 30 games and only four half-centuries — the big stage isn’t new for the 21-year-old, who played the T20 World Cup final in Australia back in 2020.