THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
When India lifted the Women’s Cricket World Cup trophy, one player was missing from the final squad due to injury: Pratika Rawal. As ICC President, Jay Shah’s decision to intervene and ensure she received a winner’s medal was more than a gesture of goodwill—it was a recognition of justice, contribution, and the true spirit of team success.
Recognizing Genuine Contribution
Pratika Rawal was not a peripheral player in India’s World Cup campaign. She was the team’s second-highest run-scorer with 308 runs, forming a formidable opening partnership with Smriti Mandhana that gave India the solid starts they needed throughout the tournament. Her performances in the group stages were instrumental in India’s qualification to the knockout rounds. Without her contributions, India’s path to the semi-finals—and ultimately to World Cup glory—would have been far more uncertain.
Jay Shah’s intervention recognized a simple truth: tournament victories are built on collective effort across all phases, not just the final match. Rawal laid the foundation stones during the group stage, and those foundations held firm even when she could no longer stand on them herself.
The Injustice of Circumstance
Rawal’s exclusion from receiving a medal was purely circumstantial. She sustained an ankle injury during the group phase match against Bangladesh and had to be replaced by Shafali Verma for the knockout stages. According to ICC regulations, only players in the final squad of 15 are eligible for medals. While this rule exists for administrative reasons, it creates a harsh reality: a player who gives everything for her team, even suffering injury in the process, could watch her teammates celebrate without receiving the same recognition.
The image of Rawal wearing a support staff member’s medal during the team’s visit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted this inequity. She had earned her place in that celebration, yet the regulations denied her the symbol of achievement that her teammates possessed.
Setting a Precedent for Fairness
Jay Shah’s decision also addresses a long-standing issue in cricket. Jason Gillespie famously missed out on a winner’s medal after Australia’s 2003 World Cup victory when he was injured mid-tournament, despite taking eight wickets. That injustice stood for over two decades as an unfortunate but accepted consequence of the rules.
By ensuring Rawal receives her medal, Shah has set a new precedent—one that recognizes that squad members who contribute significantly but are forced out by injury deserve the same recognition as those who finish the tournament. This sends a powerful message about valuing every contributor to a team’s success, not just those fortunate enough to remain injury-free.
The Spirit of Sport
Ultimately, Jay Shah’s intervention reflects the true spirit of sport. Cricket is a team game, and World Cup victories belong to everyone who contributed to the journey. Pratika Rawal gave her all for India, scored crucial runs when they mattered most, and sacrificed her body for the team’s cause. Her teammates stood on the podium because she had helped put them there.
Ensuring she received a medal was not about bending rules—it was about honouring contribution, recognizing sacrifice, and doing what was right. It was a decision that acknowledged Pratika Rawal not as a player who missed the final, but as a champion who helped India become champions.
In the years to come, when people look back at India’s historic World Cup triumph, Pratika Rawal’s name will be remembered alongside her teammates—not as an asterisk or a footnote, but as an integral part of the victory. And that is exactly as it should be.
References
1.https://www.crictracker.com/cricket-news/jay-shah-intervened-pratika-rawal-confirms-she-will-receive-womens-world-cup-winners-medal/
