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New Delhi: Indian batsman Pratika Rawal, who scored a half-century on her Test debut during the recent tour of Australia, has advocated more Test matches for women and called it her favorite format. Pratika played an important role in saving India from an innings defeat by scoring 63 runs in the second innings of the day-night Test played on the Australia tour earlier this month.

“Test cricket is the most beautiful format. Since childhood, my father and coaches used to say that it is very important to perform well in this format. When you are groomed like that, it naturally becomes your favorite format,” Pratika said on the sidelines of the conference of the Sports Journalists of India (SJFI), hosted by the Delhi Sports Journalists Association (DSJA). He told that he has prepared himself for this format by watching videos of Test matches of great players like Vivian Richards, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting.

“I have watched many videos of these great batsmen. The way they played in Test cricket has always been inspiring,” Pratika said. On the question of increasing the number of women’s Test matches, he said that the more Test matches there are, the better it will be. According to him, the experience of playing Test cricket not only makes the player better but also matures him as a person. Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) President Rohan Jaitley honored Pratika with a prize money of Rs 51 lakh at the award ceremony held at Arun Jaitley Stadium on the concluding day of the four-day Golden Jubilee National Conference of SJFI. World Cup-winning Indian Under-19 men’s team member Uddhav Mohan was given a cash prize of Rs 11 lakh. Twenty-five-year-old right-handed top-order batsman Pratika said that the recognition the players receive motivates them to perform better.

He said, “I am extremely happy. It is really great for players to get this kind of recognition from time to time. I have played a lot of cricket from Delhi and it is a proud moment for me to come here and receive the award from Rohan sir.” In last year’s Women’s World Cup, before being ruled out of the tournament due to injury, Pratika had scored 308 runs with the help of a century in six innings of seven matches and was fourth in the list of highest scorers of the tournament. Pratika, who scored 1189 runs with the help of two centuries and eight half-centuries in 27 ODIs for India, also described the annual awards ceremony of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ‘Naman Award 2026’ as a special experience.

He said, “This was my first award with the BCCI and the whole evening was wonderful. This kind of recognition motivates the players. The way the BCCI is honoring the champions is a big step for Indian cricket. In the last season, various Indian teams have won five global trophies and cricket in the country is continuously growing.” Describing the World Cup win as the most memorable moment of his career, he said that his hangover is still intact.

Pratika said, “That feeling hasn’t gone away yet and I don’t think it should. It should always be memorable.” This year is also very important for the women’s team, because the team has to participate in the T20 World Cup and Asian Games this year. Pratika says that her focus remains only on the next match. “My plan is very simple. My aim is to perform well for the country and contribute to the team. I focus on each match and don’t think too much about the future,” she said.