Pratika Rawal Ruled Out - Can Shafali Verma Replace Her for Women's World Cup Semi-final?

India have suffered a huge blow during the ongoing Women's World Cup 2025. During a rain-affected match against Bangladesh, Pratika hurt her ankle after landing severely while fielding during Bangladesh's innings. Her teammates and support staff helped her get off the field when she fell in agony.

After getting hurt during Sunday's match against Bangladesh, opener Pratika Rawal has been ruled out of the remainder of Women's Cricket World Cup 2025. Rawal has been in good form recently, which makes her absence a huge blow.

While she has been ruled out, Pratika Rawal replacement is still up in the air before Thursday's semifinal matchup with Australia. There are certain players who can replace Rawal in India's Playing 11. However, she will be missed due to her ability to anchor the innings.

Can Shafali Verma be Pratika Rawal Replacement?

For the Indian squad, which will play Australia in the second semifinal on Thursday at the DY Patil Stadium, Pratika Rawal injury is a huge setback. Many believe that the discarded opener Shafali Verma might be the best replacement for Pratika Rawal at this stage. Because of her inconsistency, Verma was not selected for the ICC Women's World 2025.

However, she has been in excellent form recently. In the India A warm-up match against New Zealand, she smashed 70 runs off 40 balls. Shafali has also displayed good form after getting dropped from India's senior team. She has scored loads of runs in domestic cricket but was still not considered for the Women's World Cup.

Since she is not a part of the reserves for the India's squad for Women's World Cup 2025, Shafali Verma is unlikely to be selected. It remains to be seen who becomes Pratika Rawal injury replacement for the rest of the tournament.

Amanjot Kaur and Smriti Mandhana started the batting in her absence during the chase against Bangladesh before the weather once more got in the way. Eventually, the game was cancelled. The BCCI provided the following information shortly after the on-field incident by stating, "Team India all-rounder Pratika Rawal sustained an injury to her knee and ankle while fielding in the 1st innings against Bangladesh. The BCCI Medical Team is closely monitoring her progress.”

Pratika Rawal in Women's World Cup 2025

The Indian team has already reached the semifinals, and Pratika played a key role in that. She is the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament behind her opening partner, Smriti Mandhana, one of the best women cricketers. The Women in Blue have benefited greatly from the left-right combination. Pratika scored a fine century against the White Ferns to secure India's spot in the semifinals.

In seven games, she has scored 308 runs at an average of 51.33, including a century and a single fifty. In the absence of Rawal, India will be under pressure when they play the best women's cricket team in the world, Australia. They will be looking for a reliable player to take Pratika's spot at the top.

Whoever comes in will have a difficult task in filling Pratika's shoes in Thursday's all-important semifinal against Australia, regardless of who comes in. However, there's a chance it will be another rainy semi-final, and if there's no result, Australia will automatically qualify for the final of ICC Women's World Cup 2025.