Stepping up the pace: How Pratika Rawal adapted her ODI game to optimise the PowerPlay

FILE PHOTO: Pratika Rawal is the leading run-scorer in the ODI series against Zimbabwe with 161 runs in two games. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

The BCA Stadium in Kotambi is a special venue for Pratika Rawal. It is where she was introduced to international cricket two years ago against the West Indies.

She made quite the first impression with 134 runs in her first three games. It was a sign of things to come as she went about piling on the runs from one series to the next. Even in a tough World Cup campaign, which ultimately ended with a major injury to her ankle, she ground out some valuable runs, including a century against New Zealand.

But the volume of runs was never the issue with Pratika. It was the rate at which they came in.

Back in Vadodara for an ODI series against Zimbabwe, Pratika’s ODI game looks visibly different. While she was scoring at a strike rate of 84 in 2025 and managed just 79 runs in three games against Australia earlier this year at an even lower rate of 75.96, in Vadodara, she leads the scoring charts in the ongoing series against the Lady Chevrons with 161 runs in two games at a much-improved 98.77. Her century in the first game even came at a sprightly 104.16.

“The more matches I have played over the years, the more I am understanding the game. So, it’s basically an adaptation of that game, adaptation of my batting and adaptation to how the bowlers are bowling to me,” she told reporters ahead of the third ODI here.

There is a marked change in her approach, particularly in the PowerPlay. After being the steady hand that allowed Smriti Mandhana to unlock her quickscoring ways, Pratika is focusing on her own boundary hitting skills.

A boundary to get to a memorable HUNDRED 🥳 Pratika Rawal does in fine fashion 💯 Updates ▶️ https://t.co/rohw1JYI7e #TeamIndia | #INDvZIM | @mflone_ | @RawalPratika https://t.co/gDxaXf2uM8

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) October 23, 2026

“I have worked on that as well, to be able to find more boundaries in the PowerPlay because there are only two fielders outside. You can actually get an advantage and hit a lot of boundaries. When you see Smriti batting at the other end, you feel there’s a lot to learn. So I try to replicate what she does when she is in her best version. Hopefully, I will get there as well.”

The numbers are telling. Before the Zimbabwe series, her PowerPlay strike rate was around 77. In the first two ODIs against the Women in Red, not only is Pratika unbeaten in the first 10 overs, but she’s also striking at 104.

Role clarity goes a long way in securing a batter’s focus firmly on their process. With Shafali Verma’s explosive quality, particularly in the PowerPlay, available for the team to utilise, Pratika needed to buck up. But it helps that the murmurs about batting position and shuffling are not ones the dressing room has in its space.

“There were no conversations inside the dressing room about the batting order to be very honest,” she explained.

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“Smriti and I knew that we were going in as openers and I think Shafali knew as well that she was going in one down. That’s the same batting order that we followed in the Australia tour as well. I went with a clear mindset that I’m opening for the Indian team. There were no doubts about that.”

That clarity was important given she was fresh from an initiation to T20Is that did not go as smoothly as she would have wanted. Handed a debut in the Asia Cup, the 26-year-old returned scores of 22,10, 4 and 20.

She didn’t make the cut for the T20Is in the Zimbabwe series, and had time to gear up for the One-Dayers.

“The first thing I did after going home was to bat for a longer duration because it’s a longer format. To be able to have that patience even when they bowl a flighted ball, to just stay there and push it for a single and try to build your inning — these were some points I worked on back home. Honestly, when you bat for a longer duration, you get that sense of confidence. You get that feeling that you are timing the ball well and everything else just works out your way.”

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗺𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗮? 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟭𝟵𝟴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗢𝗗𝗜 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗭𝗶𝗺𝗯𝗮𝗯𝘄𝗲 🤔 Smriti, recently appointed full-time skipper, opted to open with Pratika Rawal, and the results have no one complaining. It was a simple win for India with Pratika scoring a solid century and Shafali blitzing away to a half-century 💯💪 ✍️: @lav_narayanan 🔗: https://t.co/UKXdW57KiM | 📸: BCCI Women/X #INDvsZIM #WomensCricket

— Sportstar (@sportstarweb) October 24, 2026

Her century came on the first anniversary of another ton, an important one, against New Zealand in the 2025 ODI World Cup.

“It wasn’t a perfect innings, and as a batter you have to learn from that. But it was one of those days when the ball went where I wanted it to. Luckily, it turned out really good today,” she had said after that knock. She only leaned into that comfort with a commanding half century that dug India out of trouble when it was left stumped at 19 for 2.

While working on her strokeplay, taking it deep into the innings is another element Pratika would want to stay on top of, more so now when her opening partner navigates the added pressures of captaincy.

In 28 innings, Pratika has a cluster of dismissals in between the 19th to 30th over, with only two past the 42nd over (when the game goes that long). Should India bat first on Wednesday, the Women and Blue and the steady opening bat from New Delhi will have their chance.