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India have named former U19 World Cup-winning captain Shafali Verma as Pratika Rawal's replacement for the remainder of the Women's ODI World Cup. Pratika got injured during India's last league stage game against Bangladesh. The injury prevented her from opening the innings and there were always doubts over her participation in the semi-final. On Monday (October 27), Pratika was officially ruled out of the tournament after the ICC approved her replacement. Shafali, who made her ODI debut against England in 2021, has played 29 matches so far. She has scored 644 runs at an average of 23.00. Her tally included four half-centuries. Shafali last played an ODI against New Zealand in October. She played her previous T20I against England in July. She captained India to a U19 WC title win in 2023. She scored a match-winning 70 for India A in the warm-up game of the World Cup against New Zealand. The home team defeated the Sophie Devine-led side in the warm-up fixture. Pratika's absence is a big blow for the Women in Blue and Shafali has big shoes to fill. With 308 runs in six innings, Pratika is the second-highest run-scorer in the ongoing ICC event. Smriti Mandhana tops the list. The India vice-captain has 365 runs in seven innings. Also Read: Shubman Gill Creates History, Becomes First Ever Indian Captain To.... Must-win game for India India will face Australia in the must-win semi-final on Thursday (October 30) in Navi Mumbai. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side has 3 wins and as many defeats from seven matches. Their game against Bangladesh was washed out due to rain. Australia, on the other hand, have been undefeated so far and they do have an edge over the home team. Australia are the defending champions of the Women's ODI World Cup. India famously defeated Australia in the semi-final of the 2017 World Cup in England. Harmanpreet slammed an unbeaten 171 off 115 balls in the total of 281. The Indian bowlers dismissed Australia for 245 to win the fixture by 36 runs.
