New Delhi, Sep 9 (IANS) Top-order batter Pratika Rawal has been included in the Indian women's cricket team for the upcoming 2026 Asian Games, to be played in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, as a replacement for injured Jemimah Rodrigues.

Jemimah, a key pillar in India's middle order, continues to nurse a hamstring injury that she suffered during her stint with Southern Brave in The Hundred early last month. The injury had previously ruled Jemimah out of the ongoing Women’s Asia Cup in Dubai as well.

When Pratika was announced as Jemimah’s replacement in the Asia Cup squad, there was no word on her replacement for the subsequent Asian Games. "Pratika will be travelling to Japan for the Asian Games as Jemimah’s replacement. Her name is there in the 15-member squad submitted for the Asian Games," a source in the BCCI confirmed to IANS on Wednesday.

Pratika made her T20I debut in the ongoing Asia Cup in Dubai and has been slotted into the crucial number three position by the Indian team management. In the league stage of the competition, Pratika has registered scores of 22, 10, and 4.

Her sudden call-up to the India T20I side for the Asia Cup came when she was preparing for a stint with Warwickshire in the One Day Cup in England. Before her recent T20I debut, Pratika had not played a competitive T20 game since November 2024, especially after a long ankle injury sustained during the match against Bangladesh at the Women’s ODI World Cup in 2025 keeping her on the sidelines for a long time.

That injury layoff also meant Pratika couldn’t play 2026 edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) for the UP Warriorz, who picked her for Rs 50 lakh at the player auction held in New Delhi last year.

The Indian team management will be hoping Rawal finds her rhythm quickly in the middle order as India take on Bangladesh in the semi-final to be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

The women's cricket competition at the 2026 Asian Games is scheduled to run from September 17 to 22. Defending champions India, who claimed the gold medal in the previous edition with a 19-run victory over Sri Lanka in the final, will compete alongside Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and China in the eight-team event.

India’s squad for Asian Games: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), G Kamalini (wk), Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh, N Sree Charani, and Nandni Sharma

--IANS

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