India batter Pratika Rawal’s father, Pradeep Rawal, has revealed that ICC President Jay Shah personally intervened to make sure his daughter obtained her World Cup winner’s medal following India’s victory over South Africa within the Girls’s World Cup 2025 ultimate. Pratika was initially a part of India’s World Cup squad however missed the latter phases of the event as a result of an ankle damage sustained through the ultimate group-stage match towards Bangladesh. She was subsequently changed by Shafali Verma, who performed a defining position within the ultimate, contributing with each bat and ball to safe India’s 52-run win over South Africa on the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
Because the staff celebrated the historic triumph, Pratika was seen in a wheelchair amongst her teammates however notably with out the winner’s medal round her neck. Below ICC laws, solely gamers listed within the ultimate 15-member squad for the championship match are entitled to obtain the winner’s medals.
Nonetheless, followers later observed that Pratika was sporting the winner’s medal through the Indian staff’s assembly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu, resulting in hypothesis about what had modified. Her father later clarified that ICC President Jay Shah had taken private initiative to make it occur.
“Jay Shah personally texted us and stated that he had spoken to the ICC, and that we’d obtain the medal. Pratika obtained the medal earlier than assembly Prime Minister Modi. Jay Shah took the initiative himself and personally knowledgeable Pratika,” Pradeep Rawal informed IndiaToday.in.
Neither the ICC nor the Board of Management for Cricket in India (BCCI) has launched an official assertion on the matter, however the transfer has been extensively appreciated by cricket followers and specialists alike. Earlier than her damage, Pratika was instrumental in India’s journey to the semifinals, ending because the staff’s second-highest run-scorer with 308 runs in six innings, regardless of lacking the knockout phases.
Why She Did not Have A Medal?
In keeping with the Worldwide Cricket Council’s (ICC) eligibility guidelines, medals are granted solely to gamers listed within the official 15-member squad on the finish of the event, together with these taking part within the knockout and ultimate phases.
Pratika Rawal missed the latter half of the competitors after sustaining a knee and ankle damage throughout India’s group match towards Bangladesh in Navi Mumbai. Her damage compelled the staff to usher in Shafali Verma as her substitute forward of the semifinal conflict towards Australia.
Since Rawal was formally changed as a result of damage, she now not certified beneath the ICC’s eligibility tips and subsequently didn’t initially obtain a winner’s medal, regardless of her important contributions within the earlier phases of the occasion.
A comparable occasion happened through the 2003 Males’s World Cup when Australian pacer Jason Gillespie, who had claimed eight wickets in 4 matches earlier than getting injured, additionally missed out on a winner’s medal after being dominated out of the squad.