India opener Pratika Rawal has been ruled out of the one-off Test against England at Lord’s starting on Friday due to a knee injury.Head coach Amol Muzumdar said Rawal suffered the injury while playing for India A against England A at Taunton earlier this month. She injured her knee during India A’s second 50-over match and required stitches.Priya Punia has joined the team as Rawal’s replacement.“Pratika has been ruled out of the Test matches due to an injury she sustained during the India A match. She injured her knee and required stitches. She will miss the Test matches and Priya Punia has been included in the squad,” Muzumdar said.This is LaVar’s second major injury setback in recent times. During the Women’s ODI World Cup at home last year, she was forced to withdraw from the match after spraining her ankle. Rawal made his debut against Australia earlier this year.The upcoming match will also mark a historic moment as Lord’s hosts the first Women’s Test 142 years after it first hosted the Men’s Test.The Test comes after India were eliminated in the group stage of the recently concluded Women’s T20 World Cup. Muzumdar admitted the match was disappointing but said the team had moved on and were now fully focused on the red-ball challenge.“To be honest, it’s a mixed bag. We have to bounce back from the defeat. We are definitely disappointed. We didn’t perform at our best in the World Cup. But having said that, the character of the team has to show and we need to get out of this phase and get into the Test match preparations faster.”“I think we’ve done that. We had a really good five days of preparation at Walmsley Cricket Club, which has a beautiful ground, a perfect environment to prepare, and then it’s at Lord’s. So I think the preparation has been good and, like I said, it’s great to be at Lord’s.”
