World Cup: Who is Pratika Rawal, Smriti Mandhana's partner in crime?

When Smriti Mandhana said at the post-match presentation on Thursday that her Player of the Match award for the New Zealand game belonged as much to her opening partner Pratika Rawal, she was not far from the truth. The psychology graduate, who starred in equal measure with superstar Smriti for her first century in the ICC World Cup in a make-or-break match, has finally arrived.

A semi-final clash with reigning champions Australia, who deflated India with a record chase in their league clash, may not be exactly what Harmanpreet Kaur & Co. had bargained for. However, they had not disgraced themselves at all against the seven-time champions as Pratika sizzled with a graceful 75 and Smriti got 88, while the win against a strong White Ferns in Navi Mumbai should act as a morale-booster ahead of the knockout game.

Now 25, Pratika reached a personal landmark on the way to her fluent 122 off 134 balls as she is now the joint fastest batter to reach 1,000 ODI runs — alongside Australia’s Lindsay Reeler — since her international debut last year. She already has 1,110 runs from 23 innings, at an average of 50.45 and a strike rate of 82.83 including two centuries and seven fifties.

The Delhi girl has infused much-needed consistency at the top of the order as her scores in the ongoing marquee event shows, and is now the second rungetter with 308 after Smriti (331). However, her strike rate proved a matter of concern and the newcomer was subjected to some brutal trolling — referring to the tough decision of Pratika replacing the boom-or-bust Shafali Varma.

However, most experts voted for the former in view of her consistency and ability to build a long innings and as former India allrounder Reema Malhotra summed it up: ‘’Shafali is a big name and an X-factor, but when you compare it with consistent performance, the selectors rightly preferred Rawal.’’ 

No wonder Pradeep Rawal, the cricketer’s father — a former first class cricketer and certified umpire with DDCA — was a proud man at the D.Y. Patil Stadium on Thursday. ‘’I was inside the stadium, and whenever the crowd roared ‘Pratika Rawal! Pratika Rawal!’, I got goosebumps. I felt an immense sense of pride, seeing my child play for India,’’ he told India Today in a chat.

No doubt, it’s yet another classic case of the father trying to live his dreams through his daughter — though Pratika was able to manage her cricket and academics unusually well, scoring 92.5 per cent in her CBSE board exams before earning her psychology degree from Jesus & Mary College in New Delhi with an impressive 75 per cent aggregate.

A medium pacer and hard-hitting batter during his university days, Rawal senior adopted a contrasting approach while coaching his daughter, urging her to play along the ground — a trait that laid the foundation for her conservative batting style. He also credited Railways coach Deepti Dhyani for transforming Pratika’s game after taking her under her wing in 2017.

“In her childhood, I was her first coach. I always told her, Play with your head down, keep your shots grounded. Then in 2017, Deepti Dhyani came into her life and worked on her technique. The improvements you see today are all thanks to her,” Pradeep recalled.

Recurring complaints about the strike rate is something which Pradeep is aware of as he explains: “Look, every player is different. Some are stroke-players, some are strike players, and some focus on rotating the strike. Everyone has their own style. You can’t compare one player with another — especially not with Smriti. She’s number one and has her own unique approach. Pratika’s style is about taking singles and doubles, finding the gaps, and hitting boundaries in between. That’s how she builds her innings.”

It's been a job well begun and for tips on carrying on with the good work — she need not look beyond her opening partner Smriti.