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India opener Pratika Rawal has been under scrutiny over her strike rate in the ongoing ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025. Rawal has scored 186 runs from five innings at an average of 37.20 and strike rate of 70.99. Ahead of the must-win clash against Sophie Devine’s New Zealand, head coach Amol Muzumdar defended Rawal. He wonders where the criticism around the opener’s strike rate is coming from.
"I mean, if you look at Pratika Rawal's progression from last December when she made her debut in international cricket, she averages around 50 (47.04) and her strike rate is around 82, 83 (81.92), if I'm not wrong. I think that's fantastic and we would like her to continue the way she bats, and the entire team is behind her and Harleen as well. And, you know, I don't think any discussion has happened over on that particular subject," said Muzumdar in the pre-match press conference on October 22.
"I don't know why this is coming up. She's been fantastic with the group. She's taken to international cricket as fish to water, so, we back her wholeheartedly," he added.
Rawal’s run in World Cup so far
Rawal got starts against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa but could not convert them into big scores. She scored her maiden World Cup half-century against Australia. She scored 75 runs from 96 balls and shared a 155-run opening partnership with Smriti Mandhana. In the run chase against England, he got out for a single-digit score for the first time in the tournament.
Rawal 12 runs away from scripting history
Rawal needs 12 more runs to complete 1,000 runs in ODIs. The 25-year-old will equal the record for the fastest woman to 1,000 ODI runs. Australia's Lindsay Reeler achieved the feat in 23 innings on December 18, 1988.
For India, the record is jointly held by Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma from 29 innings. Currently, Rawal has 988 runs from 22 innings, including a century and seven fifties.
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