IND vs SL, tri-series: Sneh Rana shines on comeback, Pratika Rawal continues dream start to career as India down Sri Lanka

There is a school of thought in cricket that making a comeback to the big stage is perhaps even more difficult than making a debut. If anyone understands that well, it would be Sneh Rana. The offspinner, who has been so often in and out of the Indian team, returned to don the national colours in the One Day International format for the first time since December 2023 on Sunday in Colombo, and did so with an impressive performance as she picked up 3/31 against Sri Lanka in the opening match of the Tri-series on Sunday.

Her spell, along with a well-rounded bowling effort, helped Harmanpreet Kaur and Co to restrict Sri Lanka to 147 all out in a rain-hit, 39-overs-a-side match. The run-chase felt like a formality from the word go, as Pratika Rawal continued her dream start to life as an international cricketer, scoring an unbeaten 50 as India coasted past the finish line with 9 wickets and 56 balls to spare.

Spin It Like Sneh 🌀

The Indian all-rounder spun a web around Sri Lanka’s batters, grabbing 3 crucial wickets to keep India firmly on top in the tri-series opener 🔥

Tune in now to watch the chase on FanCode 📱 | …

— FanCode (@FanCode)

At the start of this year, you could have forgiven Rana if she was thinking where does she go from here in her career. After being released by Gujarat Giants last year, she went unsold at the mini auction for the Women’s Premier League’s 2025 season. But as fate would have it, she was signed up by as a replacement for Shreyanka Patil, the latter’s injury opening the door. “Mujhe aisa lagta hai ki mere ko shayad comeback queen ka tag mila hua hai (I feel like I have been bestowed the tag of a comeback queen),” Rana had quipped with a smile at the end of ’s campaign, one that ended with a player-of-the-match performance for her against the eventual champions .

Having won the toss and opted to bowl, Harmanpreet had a plethora of spin options at her disposal on a pitch that appeared slow and low from the start. India handed out two debuts, to Kashvee Gautam and Sree Charani. It was Rana and Charani (2/26) who did the bulk of the damage, as India picked up regular wickets. The floodgates opened early through another cricketer on a comeback trail as Arundhati Reddy dismissed Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu cheaply.

While Charani maintained a steady line and length, Rana was more adventurous with her approach, varying the pace beautifully and extracting sharp turn frequently. The wickets of Hasini Perera and Kavisha Dilhari were especially crucial for India as they were the only two batters who had any fluency in the middle. Rana accounted for the former while Charani dismissed the latter for her first international wicket. India’s fielding was commendable too with Jemimah Rodrigues setting the tone right from the start.

Chasing 148, Smriti Mandhana was off to a flier and dominated the opening partnership with Rawal. Once the senior pro was dismissed, Rawal began to make her move even as Harleen Deol took her time to get going. There was never any scoreboard pressure, so Deol’s painstakingly slow start wasn’t costly. Rawal eventually scored her half century to take her tally to five 50+ scores in just seven ODIs so far (including a century), her average currently reading an impressive 82.33.
India take on South Africa next on Tuesday at the same venue.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 147 all out in 38.1/39 overs (Hasini Perera 30, Sneh Rana 3/31) lost to India 149/1 in 29.4 overs (Pratika Rawal 50*, Harleen Deol 48*, Inoka Ranaweera 1/32) by 9 wickets.

Vinayakk Mohanarangan is Senior Assistant Editor and is based in New Delhi.