Women's World Cup: Psychology meets cricket - Pratika Rawal turns theory into runs

NEW DELHI: Psychology is simply a technological survey of the caput and behaviour that helps explicate however radical think, enactment and respond — and India’s prima opener Pratika Rawal seems to person mastered that equilibrium betwixt caput and sport.

A science postgraduate with implicit 75 percent marks, Pratika has recovered ways to use her world cognition to cricket.Pratika's journey, successful galore ways, is wherever science meets cricket.While astir cricketers hum songs to calm their nerves portion batting, Pratika follows a antithetic ritual. When she takes guard, she talks to herself — observes the bowler’s assemblage language, run-up, and oculus contact, analyses each question earlier facing the ball.And the ritual has paid disconnected handsomely.Playing her maiden Women’s ODI World Cup, Pratika has scored successful each lucifer truthful acold — 37 vs Sri Lanka, 31 vs Pakistan, 37 vs South Africa, and a superb 75 vs Australia. With 180 runs successful 4 matches astatine an mean of 45, she is presently India’s highest run-getter successful the tournament.

"She is simply a soundless girl. She doesn’t speech much. She conscionable observes. If you truly privation to spot an assertive Pratika, look into her eyes — she shows her aggression done her bat.

And it each happened due to the fact that of the science she studied successful college. She has ever been an academically agleam student, and the taxable helps her successful cricket," her begetter Pradeep Rawal told TimesofIndia.com."Whenever she returns from a match, she explains the quality of the bowlers — however they bowl, their cognition connected the field, whether they are assertive oregon not. She is simply a bully analyser of the game," said Pradeep, a BCCI-certified Level-II umpire with the DDCA.

Carrying books on with her cricket kit is regular for the 25-year-old, who believes books are therapy. Her begetter recalls however it each began during her schoolhouse days astatine Modern School, Barakhamba Road, wherever she scored 92.5 percent successful her CBSE committee exams earlier earning her science grade from Jesus & Mary College successful New Delhi.She besides won golden successful hoops astatine the 64th School National Games successful 2019."Kuch books transportation karti hai apne saath (She ever carries immoderate books with her).

Whenever she gets time, she reads. That is thing she loves. She was academically truly bright," her begetter added.

Her cricket travel began erstwhile a six-year-old Pratika was spotted by her begetter playing with friends astatine a parkland adjacent their home. Seeing her talent, Pradeep — himself a cricketer and present a certified umpire — took her to manager Sharvan Kumar, who has trained the likes of Ishant Sharma and Harshit Rana, astatine the Rohtak Road Gymkhana Cricket Club."I utilized to amusement her videos of Sachin Tendulkar and his champion knocks. I had a postulation of those videos. Brian Lara and Steve Waugh too. I wanted to play for India and it was a imagination that was unfulfilled but I wanted my girl to scope this level. She likes Alyssa Healy a lot. I americium definite she volition get clip to speech to her and instrumentality tips from her successful this tournament," her begetter said.Being the lone miss successful the academy turned retired to beryllium a blessing successful disguise for Pratika.

She often faced taunts and jibes for grooming among boys, but alternatively of getting distracted, she channelled it. Facing sharp, accelerated deliveries, sharing nets, and fielding sessions with boys toughened her some mentally and technically.

"Ek bhi ladki nahi thi academy mein (There wasn’t a azygous miss successful the academy). But for her father, I decided to bid Pratika. She’s a earthy talent. The lone situation was that she had to bid with boys, truthful she learned pugnacious cricket from the start," Sharvan said."She ne'er liked bowling; she ever loved batting and wanted to play agelong innings. She was ever punctual — balancing school, cricket, and tuitions. At precisely 7pm, she would travel to maine and say, ‘Sir, mai jaa rahi hun, tution ka clip ho gaya hai’ (Sir, I’m leaving, it’s clip for my tuition). She would transportation some her schoolhouse container and cricket kit together," helium said."You cognize wherefore she has reached this level? Not conscionable due to the fact that she scores runs — but due to the fact that she scores consistently. She often says she wants to play for the state arsenic agelong arsenic possible, and for that, she needs to support scoring to cement her spot amid truthful overmuch competition," the manager added.