NEW DELHI: Ahead of the one-off Test against England at Lord’s, India were forced into a late change after opener Pratika Rawal was ruled out with a knee injury. The Women’s Selection Committee named Priya Punia as their replacement for the match, which starts on Friday.Pratika picked up a cut around her right knee while playing for India A in the second one-dayer against England A in Taunton. The wound required stitches, and he did not recover in time to prepare for the Test. Head coach Amol Muzumdar confirmed the clash before the match.“Pratika was ruled out of the Test match due to her injury in the India A match. She has a cut on her knee which required some stitches. She is out for the Test match and Priya Punia has been added to the squad,” said Muzumdar.Priya earned the call after an impressive performance in the recently concluded three-match one-day series against England A. She finished as India A’s highest run scorer with 171 runs in three matches and played a key role in the team’s 2-1 series win.Pratika had made her Test debut against Australia earlier this year, scoring 81 runs in two innings, including a half-century in the second innings.Talking about her love for the longer format after that debut, Pratika had said:“Test cricket is the best format. Since childhood my father and coach told me that performing well in this format is very important. When you are prepared in this way, it naturally becomes your favorite format.”
India squad for one-off Test against England:
Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Varma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (porter), Sree Charani, Yastika Bhatia (porter), Nandini Sharma, Harleen Deol, Renuka Thakuryal, Kranti Sai Gaud Ranghare, and S.