Pratika Rawal ankle injury gives India huge selection headache as she did not come out to begin the chase with Smriti Mandhana.
After suffering injuries to her knee and ankle while fielding in the first innings of India’s final league match of the Women’s World Cup at Navi Mumbai, Pratika Rawal was unable to start the country’s pursuit against Bangladesh.
“The BCCI Medical Team is closely monitoring her progress,” the board said in a statement.
In a rain-soaked match in Navi Mumbai, Bangladeshi batsman Sharmin Akter struck Deepti Sharma across the boundary with the last delivery of the twenty-first over, causing the injury. Rawal’s ankle twisted as she tumbled to the ground after what seemed to be a foot getting stuck in the turf as she rushed from cow corner to her left.
Rawal grabbed her ankle and winced in pain as the ball travelled to the boundary. Despite having a stretcher sent out for her, she managed to get up with the assistance of the physiotherapist and limped off the pitch. In Rawal’s absence, Smriti Mandhana’s opening partner was Amanjot Kaur.
Due to rain, the India-Bangladesh match started two hours later than planned and was initially cut to 43 overs each side. However, with Bangladesh at 39 for 2 in 12.2 overs, play was postponed for two more hours due to another round of rain. At 8.05 p.m. local time, the game finally restarted as a 27-overs-a-side battle. But even minutes before the restart, there was a sprinkle.
When another rainstorm caused a washout, India, with a revised goal of 126, was cruising at 57 for no loss while Bangladesh dragged themselves to 119 for 9 in their 27.
Rawal, 25, scored 308 runs at an average of 51.33 in six innings, second only to Mandhana as the World Cup’s top scorer. India defeated New Zealand by 53 runs to guarantee their place in the semi-finals, and she had scored a century in the previous match.
Her teammate Radha Yadav also appeared to get stuck while attempting to stop the ball at point in the 25th over, just after Rawal’s injury. She picked herself up, though, and bowled the following over.
Regardless of the outcome against Bangladesh, India would have finished fourth in the league stage. They will now meet table-toppers Australia in the second semi-final on Thursday in Navi Mumbai.