She missed Australia’s last two group-stage games against England and South Africa.
Australia captain Alyssa Healy remains a major doubt for the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 semi-final against India, despite showing some encouraging signs in the nets ahead of the knockout clash. If she sits out, Georgia Voll will replace the glovewoman in the IND vs AUS clash.
While Healy has resumed batting and was seen doing light wicketkeeping drills in Indore, Australia is unlikely to take any risks with their premium batter, particularly with the possibility of a final appearance still ahead.
The defending champions, Australia, will lock horns with India in the second semi-final at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday (October 30).
The wicketkeeper-batter suffered a mild calf strain during a training session last week, which forced her to miss Australia’s second-last group stage clash against arch-rivals England. Healy, who has been in tremendous form with two consecutive hundreds earlier in the tournament, was seen hitting the nets, doing wicket-keeping drills, and undergoing a fitness test on Tuesday, running between wickets with pads and gloves on.
Despite showing good touch with the bat in the nets, her full fitness remains uncertain.
Ahead of the clash against England, Coach Shelley Nitschke hinted that Healy’s availability would be a late decision, stressing the team’s depth allows them flexibility.
“We know we’ve got some options. One is Georgia Voll, who’s here and has filled that (opening) role before. She’s the obvious choice, but we certainly have some depth in our batting, so there are opportunities outside of that move as well. “(Healy’s) a big loss for us, she’s our captain, she’s made back-to-back hundreds, so she’s certainly in some form with the bat,” she said as quoted by cricket.com.au.
ALSO READ:
In Healy’s absence, Georgia Voll is the frontrunner to open the innings alongside Phoebe Litchfield. The 22-year-old Queenslander has established herself as Australia’s go-to back opener, having filled the role on five occasions in the last 10 months. Voll replaced Healy during India’s tour to Australia last year, scoring 46 on debut in Brisbane, followed by a sensational 101 in her second ODI. More recently, on the India tour, Voll bounced back from a first-ball duck in Chandigarh to blast 81 off 68 balls in New Delhi.
Although Voll failed to make her World Cup debut memorable, dismissed on just six runs off seven balls against England. She then remained unbeaten on run-a-ball 38 against South Africa in Australia’s final group game.
Nitschke praised Voll’s temperament, calling her “a pretty casual customer” who never fazed at the occasion.
“If we do go that way, I’m confident Voll will be ready. She’s shown time and again that she can handle pressure and perform at this level,” the coach added.
Pratika Rawal, the tournament’s second-highest run-getter, has been ruled out of the remainder of the competition after suffering an ankle injury during the team’s last league game against Bangladesh.
Rawal twisted her ankle while fielding at deep mid-wicket, as her foot got stuck in the turf while attempting to prevent a boundary. She didn’t even turn up to open the innings as Amanjot Kaur walked into the middle alongside Smriti Mandhana instead. The match was eventually washed out without a result.
India have not called up Shafali Verma as Rawal’s replacement despite the 21-year-old Shafali, originally not part of India’s Women’s World Cup squad. She is available for India’s semi-final against Australia on October 30, as Tejal Hasabnis remains the only reserve batter in the team.
Shafali hasn’t played ODIs for India since October 2024 but has been involved with India A in the 50-overs format. She scored 52 against Australia A in Brisbane in August and 70 against New Zealand A in Bengaluru in September.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
