Who is Priya Punia? Meet the batsman named in India’s squad for the one-off Test against England at Lord’s

NEW DELHI: India have handed Priya Punia her first Test call-up after opener Pratika Rawal was ruled out of the one-off women’s Test against England at Lord’s with a knee injury.The women’s selection committee named Punia as Rawal’s replacement after the opener failed to recover in time for the match, which begins on Friday. Rawal suffered a cut around her right knee while playing for India A in the second one-dayer against England A in Taunton. The injury required stitches, forcing her to miss the Lord’s Trial.Head coach Amol Muzumdar confirmed the news before the match.“Pratika was ruled out of the Test match due to her injury in the India A match. She has a cut on her knee which required some stitches. She was out for the Test match and Priya Punia was added to the squad,” Muzumdar said.

Who is Priya Punia?

Born in Jaipur, Rajasthan, Priya Punia is a top-order right-handed batsman who can also mix at medium pace with her right arm. The 29-year-old has represented India in limited-overs cricket but is yet to make her Test debut.Punia made her international debut in a T20I against New Zealand on 6 February 2019. She has since represented India in both ODIs and T20Is.Punia’s selection for the one-off Test against England comes on the back of an excellent series for India A against England A.She scored 23 in the opening match before following it up with 87 and 61 in the next two games. She finished as India A’s top scorer in the three-match one-day series with 171 runs and played a key role in India’s 2–1 series win.

Priya Punia International Record

Punia has played 12 women’s ODIs so far, scoring 273 runs at an average of 27.30. Her highest score is an unbeaten 75 and she has scored two half-centuries in the format.In T20 Internationals, she appeared in three matches and scored nine runs.

India squad for one-off Test against England

Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (Vice-Captain), Shafali Varma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (Goalkeeper), Sree Charani, Yastika Bhatia (Goalkeeper), Nandini Sharma, Harleen Deol, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Punia, Sayali S.