Women's WC: Question is who opens with Smriti if Pratika isn't fit, says Mithali

New Delhi, Oct 27 (IANS) Looking ahead to India’s high-stakes 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup semi-final against Australia, former skipper Mithali Raj has questioned who would open with vice-captain Smriti Mandhana if Pratika Rawal isn’t fit enough to feature in the game, slated to take place at DY Patil Stadium on October 30.

Before India’s final league match of the World Cup against Bangladesh was washed out due to rain, the hosts were left with a huge concern about Pratika, who sustained a knee and ankle injury while fielding and did not come out to bat in the second innings.

"The question now is who opens with Smriti if Pratika isn’t fit to take the field on the 30th. The first option could be promoting number three, Harleen, since she’s often walked in early and is comfortable facing the new ball. The other option is Uma Chetry, but if Richa Ghosh returns as wicketkeeper, then Uma might sit out.

"Ideally, this was a great opportunity for Harleen to open and build that equation with Smriti, assuming Pratika might not be available. If Pratika is fit, the same batting line-up continues. But sending Amanjot to open was something I didn’t quite understand. Yes, she needed some time out in the middle, but perhaps she could’ve slotted in at number three instead of opening," said Mithali on JioStar.

The incident occurred during the 21st over of Bangladesh’s innings when Pratika twisted her ankle while attempting to stop a boundary at cow corner. Though a stretcher was called for, she managed to hobble off the field with assistance from the physio.

In Pratika’s absence, Amanjot Kaur was promoted to open alongside Smriti, as India made 57/0 before rain forced the hosts and Bangladesh to split points.

Veda Krishnamurthy, former India batter, stressed the importance of clarity and quick decision making from the team management in deciding the opener alongside Smriti if Pratika is unavailable for the important clash. Australia had previously beaten India by three wickets in the group stage meeting in Visakhapatnam.

"The semi-final is always tricky. It’s the first knockout, and everyone’s naturally a bit nervous, trying to get things right. With Australia, you simply can’t give them moments; they capitalise on even half-chances and take the game away.

"For India, it’s crucial to start with the right combination and keep pushing Australia to make mistakes. You rarely see them make errors, so you must keep them under pressure.

"Given the uncertainty around Pratika, and the fact that India don’t have a backup opener, they’ll need to make a decision quickly. You can’t expect a makeshift opener to come in and deliver something miraculous in a knockout game against the defending champions," she added.

As of now, India don’t have a reserve specialist opening batter in their main squad, and even in the reserves, there is Tejal Hasabnis, but she has primarily batted in the middle order. There’s an outside option of bringing in opener Shafali Verma, who has been making big runs in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy, but all depends on the results of Pratika’s scans.

"The whole plan behind resting players is that, in games like these, especially against a lower-ranked side like Bangladesh, the result doesn’t drastically impact your standing, but you still expect a dominant performance, which India delivered. Now, the concern lies with Pratika’s fitness.

"Against New Zealand, there was no Amanjot, and I still feel Amanjot should return for Harleen. But the real question is: what’s the injury situation with Pratika? Can India bring in a replacement from outside if needed? Because right now, there isn’t a specialist batter in the dugout.

"The players who didn’t feature were Arundhati, Kranti Goud, Sneh Rana, and Richa Ghosh; and while Richa can come in as wicketkeeper, there’s still no spare batter. Depending on Pratika’s scan results, India might need to consider adding an opener from outside the squad for the semi-final against Australia. You can’t go into a knockout game with a makeshift opener," added Veda.

She signed off by saying India have to go with six bowling options against Australia, citing the disadvantage in going with five bowlers. “To be honest, I don’t mind the combination as long as India play with six bowling options. That’s been my stance throughout.

“You can’t go into a semi-final against Australia on a pitch like this with just five bowlers. We’ve seen how conditions have been; there’s rain, dew, and the wicket hasn’t changed much. If India bowl first, the goal should be to restrict Australia to around 300–320. Anything beyond that becomes immense pressure in a knockout chase.

“And if we’re defending, you can’t realistically defend anything under 350 with just five bowlers. So yes, batting is India’s strength, but that doesn’t mean we keep adding pressure on the batters. As long as there are six bowling options, I’m confident in this line-up,” she concluded.

--IANS

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