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India Women's cricket team has faced a setback as Jemimah Rodrigues has been ruled out of the upcoming Women's T20 Asia Cup in the UAE later this month as well as the Asian Games qualifier in Japan next month. The India batsman was knocked out of action during the ongoing Hundred match in England while playing for Southern Brave against Welsh Fire.

As per reports, Jemimah Rodrigues had sustained a right hamstring injury during the game. Her injury was later examined by the BCCI's Center of Excellence, which revealed that the Indian batsman has a high-grade tear in her hamstring. As such, Rodrigues will be unavailable for the two prestigious tournaments.

Pratika Rawal receives maiden T20I call-up in place of Jemimah Rodrigues

Pratika Rawal has been named as Rodrigues' replacement in the India squad for Asia Cup, and that marks the 25-year-old as a debutant T20I player. In the meantime, the BCCI has not announced a replacement for Rodrigues in the Asian Games squad.

Rawal, who has recently returned to fitness after suffering an injury that kept her out of India's historic Lord's Test last month, was to join up with Warwickshire for the One-Day Cup. But now the player is set to return to international cricket and play the shortest format for the first time in nearly a year.

The player has not participated in the T20 format since the Challenger Trophy in November 2024. Rawal hit 142 runs at a strike rate of 111.81 in the five-team event.

In addition, Rawal has not appeared for the Women's Premier League yet. Her ankle injury, which she suffered in the ODI World Cup last year, kept her out of action in the UP Warriorz campaign.

She is the second-choice batter for the T20Is, and Anushka Sharma and Harleen Deol are regulars in the side.

Shreyanka Patil is still out

One of the other players to miss out on selection in the T20 World Cup squad was all-rounder Shreyanka Patil. She is still recovering from an ankle ligament injury and has been ruled out of the Asia Cup as well. Patil has been replaced by leg-spinner Prema Rawat, who was her standby player during the T20 World Cup.

G Kamalini has been called up as a replacement for Yastika Bhatia in the Asian Games squad. Kamalini has been selected as the backup wicket-keeper to Richa Ghosh.

India will be facing the challenge of a daunting 14-day itinerary, starting with a tri-series in Colombo featuring Thailand and Pakistan. The T20 Asia Cup, which has a pool of eight teams, will begin on August 28.

The preliminary matches will be played in Dubai, including the marquee clash between Pakistan and India on September 5, in the United Arab Emirates. The final will also be played in Dubai on September 13. With Rodrigues out, India will need to rely on Rawal to overcome a major blow to their batting strength.

India squad for Women's T20 Asia Cup

Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), G Kamalini (wk), Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh, N Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma.