<p>After a frustratingly 14-month lull when they competed in just one series against South Africa, the Indian women’s cricket team is now gearing up for a busy 2021. They will soon depart for a series against England starting next month which will be followed by a tour to Australia starting September.</p>.<p>An important aspect of the two marquee series is the return of Test matches. It’ll be for the first time since November 2014 that the Indian women will be battling in the longest format. While the game in Bristol (June 16-19) will be a regular red-ball clash, the one against Australians in Perth (Sept 30-Oct 3) is a pink-ball affair, only the second such occasion in women’s cricket.</p>.<p>While the team is chuffed about the two series, a serious challenge awaits them against two of the strongest forces currently in women’s cricket. Not only have the Indians barely played any competitive cricket since March last year owing to the coronavirus pandemic, they also don’t compete in any red-ball events at home. For more than half the squad named for the England series, including talented youngsters like Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma, this would be their first tryst in whites.</p>.<p>“There’s no doubt that these two series, especially the Test matches, will be the most challenging for this India side,” Nooshin Al Khadeer, who featured in 5 Tests and 78 ODIs, told DH. “I think the squad is fairly balanced, you have the likes of Mithali (Raj), Smriti (Mandhana), Harmanpreet (Kaur), Jhulan (Goswami) and Shikha (Pandey) who have played red-ball cricket at the international level and you have talented and hungry youngsters determined to make a mark.</p>.<p>“Having said that, it’s going to be extremely tough for the Indians. But I always believe the women’s team, when thrust with new challenges, always has shown the heart for a fight and willingness to come out on top. Skill-wise I don’t see any shortages because these girls have given good glimpses of their respective talents. But Test cricket, especially in England where the ball swings and seams a lot, is a lot about mental strength and application. Also, they’ll be short of preparation too. We have to see how they respond to it.”</p>.<p>Former wicketkeeper-bastwoman Karuna Jain, who also featured in 5 Test matches, echoed her former team-mate. “In 2006, I think we had nearly seven players making their Test debuts but we won the two-match series 1-0. In 2014 also about half of them were making their Test debuts and we won that too. The team selected for England series is quite balanced. The youngsters are actually quite seasoned and I’m confident they’ll be determined to prove their mettle in red-ball cricket.”</p>.<p>Off-spinner Nooshin, who took 115 international wickets, said if the BCCI is serious about red-ball cricket for women then they should resurrect it domestically which will make the team better prepared for future battles. “With ICC emphasising on white-ball cricket for women, red-ball cricket is literally dead domestically. In our time there was 2-day cricket for U-19 girls and 3-day for seniors. If we intend to play more Test cricket in the future, then it would be great if the girls are exposed to it in domestic cricket. For starters, at least at the U-19 level.”</p>.<p>Karuna felt restarting inter-zonal three-day tournament would be beneficial. “Scrapping the inter-zonals was not right in my opinion. We got to play against the best players from the zone and the tournament was quite competitive. It was good exposure for all of us. Getting it back would be nice.”</p>
<p>After a frustratingly 14-month lull when they competed in just one series against South Africa, the Indian women’s cricket team is now gearing up for a busy 2021. They will soon depart for a series against England starting next month which will be followed by a tour to Australia starting September.</p>.<p>An important aspect of the two marquee series is the return of Test matches. It’ll be for the first time since November 2014 that the Indian women will be battling in the longest format. While the game in Bristol (June 16-19) will be a regular red-ball clash, the one against Australians in Perth (Sept 30-Oct 3) is a pink-ball affair, only the second such occasion in women’s cricket.</p>.<p>While the team is chuffed about the two series, a serious challenge awaits them against two of the strongest forces currently in women’s cricket. Not only have the Indians barely played any competitive cricket since March last year owing to the coronavirus pandemic, they also don’t compete in any red-ball events at home. For more than half the squad named for the England series, including talented youngsters like Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma, this would be their first tryst in whites.</p>.<p>“There’s no doubt that these two series, especially the Test matches, will be the most challenging for this India side,” Nooshin Al Khadeer, who featured in 5 Tests and 78 ODIs, told DH. “I think the squad is fairly balanced, you have the likes of Mithali (Raj), Smriti (Mandhana), Harmanpreet (Kaur), Jhulan (Goswami) and Shikha (Pandey) who have played red-ball cricket at the international level and you have talented and hungry youngsters determined to make a mark.</p>.<p>“Having said that, it’s going to be extremely tough for the Indians. But I always believe the women’s team, when thrust with new challenges, always has shown the heart for a fight and willingness to come out on top. Skill-wise I don’t see any shortages because these girls have given good glimpses of their respective talents. But Test cricket, especially in England where the ball swings and seams a lot, is a lot about mental strength and application. Also, they’ll be short of preparation too. We have to see how they respond to it.”</p>.<p>Former wicketkeeper-bastwoman Karuna Jain, who also featured in 5 Test matches, echoed her former team-mate. “In 2006, I think we had nearly seven players making their Test debuts but we won the two-match series 1-0. In 2014 also about half of them were making their Test debuts and we won that too. The team selected for England series is quite balanced. The youngsters are actually quite seasoned and I’m confident they’ll be determined to prove their mettle in red-ball cricket.”</p>.<p>Off-spinner Nooshin, who took 115 international wickets, said if the BCCI is serious about red-ball cricket for women then they should resurrect it domestically which will make the team better prepared for future battles. “With ICC emphasising on white-ball cricket for women, red-ball cricket is literally dead domestically. In our time there was 2-day cricket for U-19 girls and 3-day for seniors. If we intend to play more Test cricket in the future, then it would be great if the girls are exposed to it in domestic cricket. For starters, at least at the U-19 level.”</p>.<p>Karuna felt restarting inter-zonal three-day tournament would be beneficial. “Scrapping the inter-zonals was not right in my opinion. We got to play against the best players from the zone and the tournament was quite competitive. It was good exposure for all of us. Getting it back would be nice.”</p>
