New Delhi, September 9 (Daily Kiran) : The Indian women’s cricket team has announced that Pratika Rawal will replace the injured Jemimah Rodrigues for the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Jemimah, a key player in India’s middle order, is currently recovering from a hamstring injury sustained during the Hundred tournament last month while playing for Southern Brave. This injury also sidelined her from the ongoing Women’s Asia Cup in Dubai.
The announcement regarding Pratika’s inclusion came after Jemimah’s withdrawal from the Asia Cup team, but details about her replacement for the Asian Games were not initially disclosed. A source from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed on Wednesday, “Pratika will travel to Japan for the Asian Games 2026 in place of Jemimah Rodrigues. She is included in the 15-member squad.”
Pratika made her T20 international debut during the Asia Cup, where she was selected to bat at the number three position. In the tournament’s league stage, she scored 22, 10, and 4 runs. Her sudden call-up to the T20 international team came while she was preparing to play for Warwickshire in England’s One Day Cup. Before her recent debut, Pratika had not played any competitive T20 matches since November 2024 due to an ankle injury sustained during a match against Bangladesh in the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025.
This injury also forced her to miss the 2026 edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), despite being purchased for ₹50 lakh by UP Warriors at last year’s player auction in New Delhi. The Indian team management is hopeful that Pratika can quickly regain her form in the middle order, especially as India prepares to face Bangladesh in the semi-finals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
The women’s cricket competition at the 2026 Asian Games will take place from September 17 to 22. The reigning champions, India, who won the gold medal by defeating Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the final, will compete against Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and China in this eight-team tournament.
The Indian team for the Asian Games includes: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shefali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), G. Kamalini (wicketkeeper), Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh, N. Sri Charani, and Nandini Sharma.
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