CHENNAI: At one point in India's chase of 239 at Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot, Pratika Rawal had the best seat in the house with captain Smriti Mandhana continuing her 2024 form with the bat. As was the case, Orla Prendergast dropped the ball a bit short and the left-hander pulled it for a four. Earlier, young Georgina Dempsey had met the same fate. Rawal, at this time, after opening the batting with Mandhana in three ODIs, is used to watching it from the non-striker's end.
In the third over, it was Rawal's turn. A beautiful cover drive, a result of her immaculate hand-eye coordination. A spectacular pull shot in front of the square followed. On the batting track where Ireland scored their highest ODI score against India, Indian openers did what was needed. Make the most of the early fielding restrictions. While Mandhana went all guns blazing, Rawal was ready to give her the strike and hit an occasional bad delivery that came her way. That aggression resulted in Mandhana's eventual downfall for 41, but India were well on top of the chase at that time.
Once Mandhana went back, the scoring rate slowed, Rawal did what she was supposed to do and kept the scoreboard ticking. Harleen Deol and Jemimah Rodrigues perished while trying to score some quick runs, Rawal stayed strong at the crease. She was asked to carry her bat in the innings and it looked like she was ready to play that role.
"We had a really good start and the wicket was really nice. When the wickets were falling, I was just trying to keep it simple and trying to play my shots. If I have been given a responsibility to play till the end, so I was trying to contribute to the team," Rawal told media after the match.
Rawal found a partner in Tejal Hasabnis to steady the ship as the duo added 116 runs off 84 balls to take India close to victory. Hasabnis, who got the opportunity in the playing XI for the first time since the home series against New Zealand, showcased her mettle batting at five. "At the end, Tejal played really well," Rawal complimented her batting partner in the post-match presentation.
It is early in her career, but Rawal has played her role with ease. While she has faced the bowlers from the West Indies and Ireland on the wickets where batting was relatively easy, it will be interesting to see if she has impressed the decision-makers enough to make it count for the World Cup selection. She has two remaining ODIs against Ireland to make her case as the next series India are scheduled to play is not happening till July 2025.
Brief scores: Ireland 238/7 in 50 ovs (Lewis 92, Paul 59; Mishra 2/59) lost to India 241/4 in 34.3 Ovs (Rawal 89, Hasabnis 53 n.o.; Maguire 3/57).