NAVI MUMBAI: On Thursday evening, just as Pratika Rawal worked around New Zealand's Rosemary Mair to bring up her second ODI century at the DY Patil Stadium, a small banner was unfurled in one of the hospitality stands above the Indian dressing room. It read — 100 — Pratika Rawal: Proud Moment of Father — with Pradeep Rawal, her dad, on his feet, applauding the milestone moment of his daughter.
Pratika completed the quick single, removed her helmet to acknowledge the crowd and her father before being embraced by her batting partner Jemimah Rodrigues. It was a moment she had been waiting for since the beginning of this World Cup. After all, much like it has been for Smriti Mandhana, 2025 has been a record year for Pratika too.
She is the second leading run-scorer this year behind Mandhana and on Thursday, she went past Belinda Clark's previous record (970) for most runs in the calendar year as well.
This tournament, however, had not gone very well for Pratika until Thursday. With Mandhana not getting starts, oftentimes Pratika was holding the innings together and batting with Harleen Deol. It led to a bit of a stagnation at times, as neither is an avid runner between wickets. The lack of conversion and the losses meant pressure was piling on Pratika. And when she got a chance to break free against New Zealand on what was a good batting pitch, the Delhi batter made the most of it.
When the century came along, she let out a sigh of relief and looked at her dad, who has been with her every step of the way. "It feels great. I mean, my dad has come to every international game that I've played. The support from his side has been amazing, and it feels great to score a century in front of him. Winning matches for India, playing in that blue jersey, that has always been the dream for me and for him as well. So, it's actually very great. I'm very happy that it all happened today (Thursday)," she said in the press conference.
As Pratika said, it was a shared dream of her and her father, who played cricket as an all-rounder at the university level. Once a medium-pacer, Pradeep became a BCCI Level I umpire and started taking Pratika for matches. From the moment they decided she would pursue cricket, Pradeep has been with her through and through. Be it her training or matches, Pradeep has been there to cheer and be there for Pratika. During lockdown, he converted the terrace into nets so that she could practice.
"She asked me ‘Where to practise? I couldn't eat or sleep'. So, I went to West Patel Nagar and bought a terrace flat. I put a green carpet on it and made a net, and she used it to practise day and night. I used to give her at least 500 balls daily," Pradeep recalls in a conversation with The New Indian Express.
All the hard work and sacrifice came to fruition as she made her India debut against the West Indies in December 2024. However, Pradeep was still anxious about the World Cup. He knows that it is the biggest stage. "Every player dreams of playing in the World Cup. So many players play 100 matches but do not get a place in the World Cup. The charm of the World Cup is like that, as it is the biggest trophy. It is a matter of pride to be named in it for the first time," says Pradeep, beaming with pride.
Once Pratika was named in the squad, Pradeep got to work with the banners even before the tournament began. Such was the confidence he had in her daughter that he had asked her to score at least three centuries in this World Cup.
"I made them a month ago. I knew it was going to happen. It got delayed a bit. When she had a camp before the World Cup, I told her that I wanted three centuries from her in the World Cup. It got delayed a bit, but one century has come. We have three matches left," says Pradeep, adding that going into the semifinals with another century could be perfect for her and the team.
Asked how satisfying it is to see her daughter live the dream after years of hard work, Pradeep has an instant response: "After years of hard work, you are getting a chance to play for India. Very few people get this chance. Out of crores of people, 11-15 people get to play means you are special. Your responsibility increases. You are playing for your country. Your satisfaction will increase if you play for your country. It will keep increasing. You want another century ahead. You want to set a new record. You want to score 100, 1000 runs. Our expectations keep increasing."
Indeed. In her first year of international cricket, Pratika has scaled several peaks. Now, she will be hoping to keep up her good run in the next nine days or so, for there is no bigger peak than winning the World Cup.
