India right-handed-batter Pratika Rawal has shared that she will soon get her ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 winner’s medal, even though she was unable to play the semifinal and final because of an ankle injury.
The scary injury happened during India’s last league match against Bangladesh while she was attempting to save a boundary during fielding in a rain-affected match. Rawal was ruled out of the competition and was replaced by Shafali Verma for the knockout games.
Under ICC rules, only the 15 players in a team’s final squad receive medals. However, Rawal has said that Jay Shah, the ICC Chairman and former BCCI Secretary, took personal interest in making sure she didn’t miss out on her medal.
India locked horns with South Africa in the grand finale and emerged victorious by defeating their counterparts, en-route clinching their first-ever ICC Women’s World Cup title. During the medal ceremony, all 15 members of the squad, including Shafali Verma, who stepped in for Rawal, were honoured.
Rawal mentioned that the medal she was seen wearing while meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu was not actually hers, but one borrowed from a support staff member.
“Jay Shah texted our manager that I want to make arrangements to get a medal for Pratika. So, finally, I now do have my own medal. The first time I opened it up (medal given to her by support staff) and, I looked towards it, I was almost in tears. I’m not a person who cries a lot, but that emotion was real, that feeling of join us,” she said.
She further revealed that Shah had assured her earlier that the ICC would be sending a medal her way soon. “Jay Shah told us that he is asking the ICC if they can send a medal. So that medal is going to take some while, to reach me. So, one of the support staff gave me their medal to wear for now. Consider that I have my own. So, the medal is on the way,” she added.
Though she couldn’t take the field in the final games, Rawal expressed that receiving the medal will give her a sense of belonging and fulfillment after India’s unforgettable triumph.
(Quotes sourced from CNN News18)
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