India return Pratika Rawal gets a further boost as she replaces the injured Jemimah at the Asian Games

Pratika Rawal replaces Jemimah (Image: IANS) Top-order batsman Pratika Rawal has been named in the Indian women’s cricket team for the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan as a replacement for the injured Jemimah Rodrigues.Jemimah continues to recover from a hamstring injury sustained while playing for Southern Brave in The Hundred on August 3. The injury has already ruled her out of the ongoing Women’s Asian Cup in Dubai and the Asian Games.

Rawal gets a call-up to the Asian Games

Rawal was initially named as Jemimah’s replacement for the Asian Cup only, at the time it was not officially said who would take her place in the Asian Games squad. However, a BCCI source confirmed on Wednesday that Rawal’s name has already been included in the 15-member squad submitted for the Asian Games, meaning he will travel to Japan as Jemimah’s replacement.The 17-year-old made her T20I debut during the ongoing Asia Cup and was used by the Indian team management at No.3. She has scored 22, 10 and 4 in her three league games so far.

Long way back for Rawal

Rawal’s return to international cricket came after a long layoff due to injury. She had not played competitive T20 cricket since November 2024 before being called up for the Asia Cup and was also forced to miss the 2026 Women’s Premier League following an ankle injury sustained during the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup. She was preparing to join Warwickshire for the One Day Cup in England when the call came from India. UP Warriorz bought her for Rs 50 crore in the WPL auction last year, but she could not feature in the 2026 season.

India head to Japan as the defending champions

India enter the women’s cricket competition at the Asian Games as the defending champions after beating Sri Lanka by 19 runs in last year’s final in Hangzhou. The eight-team competition is scheduled to run from September 17 to 22, with India joined by Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and China.Indian Asian Games Lineup: 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 Charani and N Sre.