The young indian cricketer Pratika Rawal has in recent past few months gained much popularity due to her tremendous performance in the ranging series including her first series against the West Indies. Rawal, a student of psychology also opined that the stream has helped her influence her play style to a large extent.
Debut Highlights
Pratika Rawal started her international journey on 22nd December, 2024, joined the list of Indian ODI players as the number 150th player. In her first match, she managed to make 40 runs for 69 balls and later in the second one day international match, she batted brilliantly and made 76 runs for 86 balls. Throughout the series, she accumulated a total of 134 runs across three innings, averaging 44.66, and showcased her all-round skills by taking two wickets.
| Match | Runs Scored | Balls Faced | Wickets Taken |
| 1st ODI | 40 | 69 | 0 |
| 2nd ODI | 76 | 86 | 2 |
| 3rd ODI | 18 | 25 | 0 |
| Total | 134 | 180 | 2 |
The Impact of Psychology on Performance
Rawal spoke about how her course subject has proven useful to her while under the lights of a football facility. She showed a lot of desire to learn about people and how their minds work, especially because to succeed on the field, a person has to know how his or her mind works. “It appears I wished to study about how exactly we mentally vessel on and off the field”, she spoke of before the matches.This mental preparation allows her to visualize success and boosts her confidence during gameplay.
Academic Excellence and Cricketing Journey
Rawal’s academic abilities are as good as her cricket skills. She passed her CBSE board examinations with flying colours from Modern School Barakhamba scoring 92.5 % as the top score that year. Due to her commitment she never let go of the education part of the deal even though she had to drop out from the U19 cricket team during her class 12 examination time.
Future Aspirations
New channels of opportunities opened for Pratika Rawal as she is all set for the One Day International series against Ireland starting from January 10, 2025 for fulfilling her role in Indian women’s cricket team. She has put much effort in psychological understanding of the game and coupled it with excellent cricketing skills that will keep her busy in the future.
Conclusion
In summary, the real life experience of Pratika Rawal, how the student of psychology stepped into the international cricket arena proves that mental training is very conducive to performance. Her debut was very impressive and having a good education behind her back; she will definitely be a promising contender in the next tournaments. While she brings about the necessary psychological approach into the game while batting, bowling as well as keeping wicket,Pratika Rawal is set to make significant contributions to Indian cricket in the years to come.
