Meet Pratika Rawal: Daughter of a BCCI Umpire and a Cricket Sensation with a Historic 154

In Wednesday’s third and final ODI against Ireland, Pratika Rawal, the opener for the Indian women’s cricket team enthralled Rajkot with a brilliant century. Pratika hit 154 off 129 balls in her sixth ODI smashing her first international century. 

After reaching a run a ball hundred, she made a forceful change of pace. With Smriti Mandhana (135), the stand-in skipper scoring her 10th ODI century off just 70 deliveries, Pratika added 233 runs for the opening stand. India achieved their highest ever 50 over total of 435 for five because of the two player’s performances. 

Meet Pratika Rawal:

Pratika was born on September 1st  2000 in Delhi. She represents Railways in her domestic cricket matches. Her father, Pradeep Rawal is a Level-II umpire for the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) who holds a BCCI certification. After completing her education at Modern School on Barakhamba Road and earning 92.5% on the CBSE board examinations, she went on to Jesus & Mary College in New Delhi to earn her bachelor’s degree in psychology.

In addition to playing cricket, Pratika represented Rajender Nagar’s Bal Bharati School in basketball where she took home a gold medal from the 64th School National Games in Delhi in January 2019. She began her training at Rohtak Road Gymkhana Cricket Academy, where coach Sharvan Kumar served as her instructor. During the home series against the West Indies last month, she made her debut for her country. 

She forged a 110 run partnership with Mandhana and scored 40 runs in her debut. In the same game, she dismissed West Indies captain Hailey Matthews taking her first ODI wicket. From 2021 to 2024, Pratika represented Delhi before deciding to join the Railways.

After scoring her first century, Pratika claimed that her love of cricket and her deep connection to her subject had aided her ascent to the India squad.