Pratika Rawal might not have performed the ultimate levels of the Girls’s World Cup 2025, however her contribution to India’s historic triumph stays unforgettable. The 25-year-old batter completed because the group’s second-highest run-scorer regardless of lacking the knockout video games, but she didn’t obtain a winner’s medal because of ICC guidelines. Rawal’s World Cup marketing campaign got here to a heartbreaking halt after she injured her ankle throughout India’s group-stage conflict towards Bangladesh. Earlier than that setback, she had scored 308 runs in six innings at a formidable common of 51.33, together with a number of essential knocks that helped India attain the semifinals. Nevertheless, her harm compelled the group administration to usher in Shafali Verma as a substitute.

In keeping with ICC rules, medals are awarded solely to gamers within the closing 15-member squad. Since Rawal was changed earlier than the semifinal, she missed out on the winner’s medal, despite the fact that her runs had been instrumental in establishing India’s title cost. Curiously, the identical state of affairs occurred within the 2003 Males’s World Cup when Australia’s Jason Gillespie, regardless of taking eight wickets in 4 video games, was changed after an harm and didn’t obtain a medal. On Sunday night time, as India defeated South Africa by 52 runs on the DY Patil Stadium to raise their maiden Girls’s ODI World Cup trophy, Rawal watched the scenes unfold from the sidelines. Sitting in her wheelchair, wrapped within the Indian flag, she couldn’t maintain again her tears. “I can’t even categorical it. There are not any phrases. This flag on my shoulder means a lot. To be right here with my group — it’s surreal. Accidents are a part of the sport, however I’m simply so comfortable I might nonetheless be a part of this group. I really like this group. I can’t categorical what I really feel — we really did it! We’re the primary Indian group to win the World Cup in so lengthy. The entire of India deserves this,” she stated emotionally. For Rawal, the second was bittersweet. She couldn’t take the sector within the closing, however as Shafali Verma’s blistering 87 guided India to victory, she celebrated each boundary and wicket with the identical ardour as her teammates. “Truthfully, it was tougher to observe than to play. Each wicket, each boundary — it gave me goosebumps. The power, the gang, the emotion — it was unimaginable,” she stated. Her story stands as a reminder that generally heroes of a championship don’t all the time stand on the rostrum, however their affect is deeply felt in each cheer, each run, and each dream fulfilled.