NEW DELHI: Psychology is a scientific research of the thoughts and behavior that helps clarify how individuals assume, act and reply — and India’s star opener Pratika Rawal appears to have mastered that steadiness between thoughts and sport. A psychology graduate with over 75 p.c marks, Pratika has discovered methods to use her educational information to cricket.Pratika’s journey, in some ways, is the place psychology meets cricket.Whereas most cricketers hum songs to calm their nerves whereas batting, Pratika follows a special ritual. When she takes guard, she talks to herself — observes the bowler’s physique language, run-up, and eye contact, analyses each motion earlier than dealing with the ball.
And the ritual has paid off handsomely.Enjoying her maiden Girls’s ODI World Cup, Pratika has scored in each match to date — 37 vs Sri Lanka, 31 vs Pakistan, 37 vs South Africa, and an excellent 75 vs Australia. With 180 runs in 4 matches at a mean of 45, she is presently India’s highest run-getter within the match.
Pratika Rawal’s father Pradeep is a BCCI-certified Stage-II umpire. (Picture: Particular Association)
“She is a silent lady. She doesn’t discuss a lot. She simply observes. In the event you actually wish to see an aggressive Pratika, look into her eyes — she reveals her aggression by her bat. And all of it occurred due to the psychology she studied in faculty. She has at all times been an academically vivid pupil, and the topic helps her in cricket,” her father Pradeep Rawal instructed TimesofIndia.com.“Every time she returns from a match, she explains the character of the bowlers — how they bowl, their perspective on the sphere, whether or not they’re aggressive or not. She is an effective analyser of the sport,” mentioned Pradeep, a BCCI-certified Stage-II umpire with the DDCA.
Pratika Rawal (C) together with her household. (Picture: Particular Association)
Carrying books alongside together with her cricket equipment is routine for the 25-year-old, who believes books are remedy. Her father recollects the way it all started throughout her college days at Trendy Faculty, Barakhamba Highway, the place she scored 92.5 p.c in her CBSE board exams earlier than incomes her psychology diploma from Jesus & Mary School in New Delhi.She additionally received gold in basketball on the sixty fourth Faculty Nationwide Video games in 2019.“Kuch books carry karti hai apne saath (She at all times carries some books together with her). Every time she will get time, she reads. That’s one thing she loves. She was academically actually vivid,” her father added.
Pratika Rawal’s cricket journey began at 6 years previous. (Picture: Particular Association)
Her cricket journey started when a six-year-old Pratika was noticed by her father taking part in with mates at a park close to their residence. Seeing her expertise, Pradeep — himself a cricketer and now a licensed umpire — took her to educate Sharvan Kumar, who has educated the likes of Ishant Sharma and Harshit Rana, on the Rohtak Highway Gymkhana Cricket Membership.“I used to point out her movies of Sachin Tendulkar and his greatest knocks. I had a group of these movies. Brian Lara and Steve Waugh too. I needed to play for India and it was a dream that was unfulfilled however I needed my daughter to achieve this degree. She likes Alyssa Healy rather a lot. I’m certain she’s going to get time to speak to her and take suggestions from her on this match,” her father mentioned.Being the one lady within the academy turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Pratika. She usually confronted taunts and jibes for coaching amongst boys, however as a substitute of getting distracted, she channelled it. Going through sharp, quick deliveries, sharing nets, and fielding classes with boys toughened her each mentally and technically.
Going through sharp, quick deliveries, sharing nets, and fielding classes with boys toughened Pratika Rawal mentally and technically. (Picture: Particular Association)
“Ek bhi ladki nahi thi academy mein (There wasn’t a single lady within the academy). However for her father, I made a decision to coach Pratika. She’s a pure expertise. The one problem was that she needed to prepare with boys, so she realized robust cricket from the beginning,” Sharvan mentioned.“She by no means preferred bowling; she at all times beloved batting and needed to play lengthy innings. She was at all times punctual — balancing college, cricket, and tuitions. At precisely 7pm, she would come to me and say, ‘Sir, mai jaa rahi hun, tution ka time ho gaya hai’ (Sir, I’m leaving, it’s time for my tuition). She would carry each her college bag and cricket equipment collectively,” he mentioned.“You recognize why she has reached this degree? Not simply because she scores runs — however as a result of she scores constantly. She usually says she needs to play for the nation so long as doable, and for that, she must preserve scoring to cement her place amid a lot competitors,” the coach added.