This star player replaces injured Pratika Rawal in India’s squad ahead of semi-final vs Australia

India star Shafali Verma replaced Pratika Rawal, who was ruled out of the ongoing ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 due to an ankle injury. Rawal sprained his ankle in the last group stage match against Bangladesh in Navi Mumbai and was subsequently taken off the field. According to the ICC website, he was unavailable to bat in the chase, which was eventually canceled due to rain.

Rawal has scored the second-most runs in the ongoing World Cup, scoring 308 runs across six innings at an impressive average of 51.33, surpassed only by her opening partner Smriti Mandhana, who leads the run scoring charts with 365 runs. Since his debut in December 2024, Rawal has amassed 703 runs in just 14 innings at an impressive average of 54.07.

The 25-year-old smashed a magnificent century in India’s penultimate group stage match against New Zealand, which sealed their semi-final place in the tournament. Shafali Verma last played in the 50-over format a year ago and was not included in the World Cup squad.

However, his explosive opening batsman came back strongly in the T20I series against England earlier this year and became the second-highest batsman. Following this, the 21-year-old became part of the India A team in the 50-over format that toured Australia, where he registered a half-century.