Who is Prema Rawat? India spinner replaces Shreyanka Patil in T20 World Cup 2026 squad

All you need to know about Prema Rawat, the replacement who made her mark in the Indian team

India off-spinner Shreyanka Patil was ruled out of the competition after suffering an ankle ligament injury during their match against Netherlands on Wednesday. But her injury didn’t impact India’s game plan as they registered a comfortable 95-run win over the Dutch in their second game of the competition.

Meanwhile, India have named Prema Rawat as her replacement for the rest of the tournament. Her replacement has been approved by the Event Technical Committee of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and she is expected to join her team-mates shortly.

Prema was the standout performer with eight wickets in five games during India’s successful campaign in the Women’s Asia Cup Rising Stars tournament. She was the joint-leading wicket taker on India A’s tour of Australia last year, taking seven wickets in three T20s. She has played five matches of the tournament where she has claimed 8 wickets at a staggering economy of 9.6. In the tournament final, she gave away only 12 runs and claimed three wickets in four overs as India defended 134.

As a kid, Prema was divided between hockey and cricket. In the end, she opted for the latter and threw herself into it. Hailing from Uttarakhand, she made a name for herself in domestic leagues and was bought by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for 1.2 crore in the auction. She proved her worth for the franchise picking three wickets in six matches and was named in the India A squad for the ACC Women’s Asia Cup Rising Stars 2026.

India recorded a comfortable 64-run win over Pakistan before setting a tournament record of 209/5 to smash Netherlands by 95 runs. The -led side now sit at the summit of the chart, but face a stiff energy ahead with important games to come against South Africa, Bangladesh and Australia.

The Blue Women will take on South Africa on Sunday, June 21 in their third game of the tournament. This match is of extreme importance in the context of nature of the group. They need to win against the Proteas or Australia, whom they play on June 28, if they are to stay in the hunt for a place in the semi-final.