“Had a feeling she would do something special”: Pratika Rawal reflects on Shafali Verma’s big moment

As a psychology student, Pratika Rawal understands a thing or two about instinct. Her intuition told her that Shafali Verma, who replaced her in the World Cup knockouts, was destined to do something remarkable. Sadly, injuries to her ankle and knee kept Rawal out of the biggest matches of her career, but her belief in Shafali’s brilliance was spot-on.

“Shafali is someone who thrives on instinct and self-belief. She doesn’t need motivation. Before the final, she came to me and apologised for my absence, and I told her it’s okay, these things happen. I had a feeling she would do something special that day,” Rawal said to PTI Videos.

Having piled up 308 runs, Rawal stood third among the top scorers, trailing only Smriti Mandhana (434) and Ashleigh Gardner (328) before picking up an injury in India’s last group match versus Bangladesh.

The injury came at the worst possible time and could easily have been mentally draining. But for someone like Rawal, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology, understanding and managing her emotions came a little easier.

“I wouldn’t call myself a psychologist just yet. I still have to finish my Master’s,” she said with a smile.

“Studying psychology really helped me understand human emotions better, especially my own. The first thing was to accept what had happened and you can’t change it. Once I accepted the injury, I focused on what I could control.”