Air Chief Marshal AP Singh Felicitates Cricketer Prema Rawat for Cricketing Achievements
Indian cricketer Prema Rawat, who has represented India in women’s cricket after emerging through the domestic circuit, has been felicitated by the Indian Air Force for a journey that began on the sports ground of Air Force Station Bareilly. The right-handed batter and right-arm leg-break bowler, a member of India’s Women’s Asia Cup-winning squad and a player for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Women’s Premier League, has retained a close link with the service through her father, Kedar Singh Rawat, who serves with the IAF.
Rawat, who hails from Uttarakhand, did not begin her sporting life as a specialist cricketer. In her early years, she played more than one sport, including hockey, before turning her full attention to cricket. The Air Force Station Bareilly ground became the place where that transition took shape, giving her an early platform to develop the skills that would later take her into India’s women’s cricket set-up.
From those beginnings, Rawat moved steadily upwards through domestic cricket. She established herself as a promising all-round option, combining batting with right-arm leg-spin, and went on to represent Uttarakhand. Her rise also took her into the Women’s Premier League, where she entered one of the most competitive domestic T20 environments in Indian cricket.
Her WPL breakthrough came ahead of the 2025 season, when Royal Challengers Bengaluru secured her services for ₹1.2 crore. The signing gave Rawat an opportunity to share the dressing room with leading Indian and overseas players and further sharpen her game at the highest domestic level.
Rawat’s progress did not stop there. She continued to move through the India A pathway and in August 2025 was named in the India A women’s squad for the tour of Australia across all three formats. Her inclusion came after injuries to Shreyanka Patil and Priya Mishra. Around the same period, she also made an impact in the Women’s Asia Cup Rising Stars campaign, where she took eight wickets in five matches as India went on to win the tournament.
