Shreyanka Patil stretchered off with an ankle injury as India await scans
Shreyanka Patil was stretchered off with an ankle injury during India’s win over the Netherlands, leaving the team waiting on scans for news on the spinner’s availability.
Jun 18, 2026
India’s run at the Women’s T20 World Cup has been near flawless so far, but their win over the Netherlands at Headingley on Wednesday came with a worry attached. Shreyanka Patil, the off-spinning all-rounder, was stretchered off after twisting her right ankle in the field, and the team is now waiting on scans before it knows how long she might be out.
The injury looked innocuous and turned nasty in an instant. Patil chased a ball clipped to the leg side early in the Netherlands innings, bent low to gather it, and rolled the ankle as she tried to turn. She went down immediately and stayed down, clutching the joint and unable to put any weight on it when the medical staff helped her up. Her ankle was strapped on the field before she was carried off and taken for scans.
What the BCCI has said
The Indian board kept its update brief. “Shreyanka Patil picked up an injury while attempting to field the ball and was stretchered off the field,” its statement read. “We wish her a speedy recovery as we await further updates.” There has been no diagnosis released yet, no timeline, and no word on whether she will feature again at the tournament. Until the scan results come back, her status is genuinely unknown.
That uncertainty matters because of what Patil brings. She is a right-arm off-break bowler who can hold an end and pick up wickets in the middle overs, and she chips in with the bat down the order. She was central to Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s second WPL title earlier this year, taking 11 wickets in nine games and producing a five-for of 5 for 23 against the Gujarat Giants, the best return by any bowler in the competition. Losing that kind of bowling option mid-tournament would force a reshuffle India would rather avoid.
India march on at the top
The cruel part is that the injury came on a night India barely put a foot wrong otherwise. Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma both made fifties as the side piled up 209 for 5, their highest total in Women’s T20 World Cup history, and the Netherlands were bowled out for 114 in reply. The 95-run win was India’s second in a row after their opening rout of Pakistan.
Those results have lifted India to the top of Group 1 on four points, edging ahead of Australia on a net run rate of 3.975. The batting has fired, the bowling has done its job, and the only blot on an otherwise commanding start is the sight of one of their spinners leaving the ground on a stretcher.
India have spin cover in the squad if Patil cannot recover in time, with Radha Yadav among the options already on hand, but the management will want their first-choice attack intact for the business end. Attention now turns to Sunday, when India face South Africa at Emirates Old Trafford on June 21. Whether Patil is fit to take any part in that game, or the rest of the campaign, depends on news the team is still waiting to hear.