England women’s team vs India women’s team: Mitali Raj leads India eye’s winning comeback after 7-year hiatus from test cricket
It’s been 2401 days since India women last played a Test match. Mithali Raj and her girls will end their 7-year wait for red-ball action when they take on Heather Knight’s England in a one-off Test in the County Ground in Bristol.
India women last played a Test against South Africa women in November 2014 at home and they won that encounter by an innings and 34 runs. Captain Mithali Raj will be one of the 7 players from the current squad who featured against South Africa in Mysore.
India, in fact, have played only 3 Tests since 2006 but have won all of them, including their last Test in England in 2014. Jhulan Goswami, who is part of the current squad, shone with a second-innings spell that broke the back of a Charlotte Edwards-led England line-up.
In 13 Tests played between England and India, the Asian side has managed to have a positive head-to-head record – wins 2, defeat 1 and 10 draws.
In fact, England have never beaten India at home. There have been 8 completed Test matches between the two in the Old Blighty. England’s only win over India in a Test came in Jamshedpur in 1995.
England also don’t have a lot of recent experience of playing Test matches as their last Test came in 2019 and they have played only 3 Tests — all against Australia as part of multi-format Ashes series — since meeting India in 2014.
Is lack of game time going to impact India?
While history favours Mithali Raj’s side, the women’s team have had to deal with lack of game time in the lead up to the one-off Test. India had a 14-day quarantine period in Mumbai following which they had only a couple of training sessions upon their arrival in England along with the men’s team.
Having last played international cricket in March, it will be interesting to see how the senior national team copes up with the rigorousness of playing Test cricket. The bowlers will be in focus as they have not bowled long spells in the recent past. Senior bowler Jhulan Goswami will play a key role along with Shikha Pandey who are expected to lead the attack in Bristol.
17-year-old Shafali to make Test debut?
On the other hand, the batting has big names who will be hoping to step up. Captain Mithali, opener Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut, Harmanpreet will be expected to guide the rest of the batting unit. It will be interesting to see if 17-year-old attacking batter Shafali Verma gets a spot in the Test side after having received her maiden Test call-up.
Vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur opened about the chances of Shafali making her debut
“All of us are trying to create a very nice situation for her so that she doesn’t feel the pressure and enjoys her cricket. She was looking great in the nets, and I hope, if she gets a chance to play, she will do better,” Harmanpreet said earlier this week.
She also added that India are mentally ready to take on England and have taken batting tips from India men’s Test team vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane who is gearing up for the World Test Championship final, starting June 18 in Southampton.
In fact, captain Mithali Raj said the team management decided that India would train in their white jerseys in Bristol in order to get into the Test match mould and ease into the game when they head out to play at the County Ground.
One-off Test part of multi-format, points-based bilateral series
Apart from being the first of the 2 Tests that India women will play this year (the other being their first-ever pink-ball Test in Australia in September-October), the one-off Test in Bristol will also be part of the multi-format, points-based bilateral series much like the women’s Ashes.
India will be playing 3 ODIs and as many T20Is after the Test series. A win in the Test match will give them 4 points while win in the limited-overs series will carry 2 points per match.
Skipper Mithali endorsed the format and said it will lead to more women’s Test being played in the future. For now, the focus is on the one-off Test. While England have the edge due to familiarity of conditions, India are expected to go out there and express themselves with no baggage.
Spotlight is also on the County Ground pitch in Bristol as the England and Wales Cricket Board apologised on Tuesday for not being able to provide a fresh pitch as 37 overs were bowled on it last Friday in a T20 Blast game.
England’s women vs India women, one-off Test squads
India: Mithali Raj (captain), Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav.
England: Heather Knight (captain), Emily Arlott, Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Georgia Elwiss, Tash Farrant, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver (vice-captain), Anya Shrubsole, Mady Villiers, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield-Hill.
