New Delhi: One of the saddest sights in India’s ODI World Cup triumph in November was opener Pratika Rawal, who got injured while fielding in the last league match against Bangladesh, not getting a medal. She was replaced by Shafali Verma in the playing XI and the 21-year-old went on to put in a Player-of-the-Match performance in the final, shining with the bat and ball.
Now, in the T20I series against Sri Lanka, Shafali has continued her rich vein of form to almost single-handedly lift the batting load. Her knocks of 69* (in the 2nd T20I) and 79* (in the third T20I) showed just how dangerous she can be when she has her head screwed on right. In fact, on current form, she should be undroppable across formats.
So, while Pratika did eventually get her winner’s medal (thanks to some public pressure and ICC president Jay Shah), whether or not she gets her place back in the playing eleven is anybody’s guess. The team management values the intelligence and the stability the opener brings to the top of the order. But she doesn’t have the firepower to match an on-song Shafali.
However, Shafali was left out of the squad for the ODI series against Australia in 2024 due to her inconsistent batting. There were technical and fitness issues as well. The most glaring was her continuing to make the same mistakes over and over again. With no one pushing her, Shafali may not have felt the need to change the things that made her the youngest cricketer to play a T20I for India at 15. But her numbers were dipping — 31 WODIs with 741 runs at an average of 24.70 and 93 WT20Is with 2,378 runs at an average of 27.65.
Contrasting batting styles
Pratika’s emergence changed things. The right-hander from Delhi took the opportunity and made the opener’s spot her own. In 25 WODIs, she scored 1,110 runs at an average of 50.45. The team management had someone it could count on and it forced Shafali to take a deeper look at her methods.
If Shafali’s partnerships with Smriti Mandhana at the top of the order were touched by a dash of madness, the Pratika-Smriti link-up was calmness personified. Two sides of two vastly different approaches. Both have their pluses and minuses but given a choice between the two, most would pick an in-form Shafali over an in-form Pratika.
But just as Pratika’s emergence forced Shafali to work even harder and not take things for granted, perhaps Shafali’s re-emergence will bring out aspects of Pratika’s game that she didn’t even know existed. The best part is that neither player will be able to take things for granted.
“From the way I worked this year, I saw the results in the final. I’m very happy that even when things were not in my control, I focused only on hard work,” said Shafali after the second T20I. “Hard work always pays off. I’ve experienced that. In 2023 as well I experienced it. Going into the T20 World Cup, it will be important.”
Pratika’s road ahead
Self-motivation can be a tricky hill to climb and there are enough players who slip and never make their way back up. Then again, an opportunity once lost may never be manifested again. We’ve seen it all happen in Indian cricket. Take the careers of Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik, both very fine cricketers in their own right who they ran into the phenomenon called Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
As good as they were, as hard as they tried, they were never good enough. It can be difficult and disheartening but Pratika will need all the backing she can get. The 25-year-old is a polished customer but with two players vying for the same slot and one of the world’s best, Smriti, at the other end, the challenge is clear for both.
For now, Pratika has been doing light work, feeling better, and is excited to bat again. After not being bought initially during the WPL auction, she was eventually picked up by UP Warriorz. But her availability remains shrouded in doubt.
In the future, if Shafali and Pratika can both keep pushing each other, Indian cricket will benefit immensely, and that is something the selectors need to keep in mind as well. Shafali has learnt a lesson the hard way. On her part, Pratika will know that it won’t be enough to just come back. Rather, she’ll have to come back and be better than ever.
