Indian women’s cricket team opener Pratika Rawal lit up Rajkot with a scintillating century in the third and final ODI against Ireland on Wednesday. Playing her sixth ODI, Pratika slammed a maiden international century and made 154 from 129 balls. She reached a run-a-ball hundred before shifting gears with authority. Pratika added 233-run for the opening stand with stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana (135), who scored her 10th ODI century, came off just 70 deliveries. The pair’s exploits saw India amass 435 for five, their highest-ever total in the 50-over format.
Who is Pratika Rawal?
Pratika was born in Delhi on 1 September 2000. She plays her domestic cricket for Railways. Her father, Pradeep Rawal, isx a BCCI-certified Level-II umpire of the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA).
She completed her schooling at Modern School at Barakhamba Road and acquired 92.5 per cent in the CBSE board exams, before finishing her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Jesus & Mary College, New Delhi.
Apart from cricket, Pratika also played basketball for Bal Bharati School in Rajender Nagar, winning a gold medal at the 64th School National Games in Delhi in January 2019.
She first trained at Rohtak Road Gymkhana Cricket Academy, under the mentorship of coach Sharvan Kumar. She made her international debut last month during the home series against West Indies.
On her debut, she scored 40 runs and shared a 110-run stand with Mandhana. She took her maiden ODI wicket, also in the same match, dismissing West Indies skipper Hailey Matthews.
Pratika represented Delhi from 2021 to 2024, before switching her allegiance to Railways.
After reaching her maiden century, Pratika said that her strong connect with her subject and love for cricket have helped in her journey to the India team.
“I wanted to study about that (human mind) and when I started studying about it, I was very keen on understanding how we mentally process (things) on the field and off the field. And, it has helped me a lot in cricket as well,” said the Delhi cricketer in a video titled ‘Pratika Rawal: Psychology meets Cricket’ posted by BCCI on ‘X’.
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