NEW DELHI, Dec 13
After a turnaround of just two days from the third T20I, India and England gear up for a Test. Not just any other Test. The first women’s Test hosted by India since 2014. The first women’s Test in India for England since 2005. The first for India after the retirements of Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami.
India were training for it like they do for any other game, and the focus was on mixing attack with defence. India have maintained that they don’t want to be overawed by the occasion of a Test match, a rare occurrence for them. “Unlike T20s where every third or fourth ball is aerial shot, that is the only thing we have to tell ourselves. If someone has aerial shots as their first, that is their way. How Shafali [Verma] bats and I bat is different and you can’t expect both of us to bat in a particular mould,” Smriti Mandhana had said on Tuesday.
Harmanpreet Kaur alluded to it on the eve of the Test: “The best thing [head coach Amol Muzumdar] said was, go with your best batting style and don’t think about changing it because it is red-ball cricket. If you are an aggressive batter, play aggressively. If you like to build your innings, then do that. Back yourself and your batting style, because we hardly have time to change things in batting.”
The sun was beating down by the time England walked out to train in the afternoon, and they had a method to how they went about with their preparation. It is not often that the women play Tests, but England have done it 99 times already and the Navi Mumbai game against India will be their 100th.
In the press conference, England captain Heather Knight did not reveal who would partner Tammy Beaumont at the top, after Emma Lamb’s injury.
The only aspect England have to choose is one middle-order spot. The toss-up is likely between Sophia Dunkley and Alice Capsey, who also bowls offspin. While Dunkley was having a bat at the nets, Capsey was seen taking high catches and underwent some intense fielding drills, too, before facing a combination of throwdowns and a net bowler.
While England will head back home after this one-off Test, it is just the start for India, who are to play back-to-back Test matches for the first time, with Australia up next later this month.
Often in the recent past, Harmanpreet Kaur has found herself at the centre of the most crucial moments of Indian women’s cricket. She was part of the first WPL match and also led Mumbai Indians to the title in the first iteration. Her 171 not out in the 2017 ODI World Cup is part of folklore. She is only three Tests old and is all set to captain India in the one-off match for the first time in the format. It was easy to spot Harmanpreet two days out of the game, in the group of Indian players training – she was the only one with the Test white trackpants.
During her batting stints, she was focusing on her footwork – consciously trying to get the front-foot forward against fast bowling to defend – and worked on judging the line and length to leave balls. She starred with the ball in the last Test India played at home; all eyes – around 40,000 no less if the turnout is good – will be on her yet again.
Is Nat Sciver-Brunt ever not a threat? The DY Patil Stadium was one of the venues of WPL 2023, where she finished second on the batting charts.
She scored an unbeaten 169 against South Africa in the drawn Taunton Test last year and 78 in the Ashes Test at Trent Bridge this June. On the eve of the match, she batted a short while with both Sophie Ecclestone and Charlie Dean bowling in tandem and looked in good touch. Sciver-Brunt also showed a glimpse of her importance with the ball in the T20Is against India. After picking up a knee injury during the Ashes, she played the Hundred and the home ODIs against Sri Lanka purely as a batter. She started bowling towards the end of the WBBL and could take on a lesser workload with the ball in the Test.
“If we look at the pitch and decide the combination, it will be different but if we look at our strengths, it will be a different combination. I would like to go with our strengths,” Harmanpreet said without giving an inclination to the bowling combination India are likely to field. Renuka Singh is returning from a stress injury but could be in line for a Test debut. It is likely India will go in with three seamers, like was the case in their last two Test outings in 2021.
India (possible): 1 Shafali Verma, 2 Smriti Mandhana, 3 Jemimah Rodrigues, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Yastika Bhatia, 6 Deepti Sharma, 7 Richa Ghosh/Pooja Vastrakar, 8 Sneh Rana, 9 Rajeshwari Gayakwad, 10 Renuka Singh, 11 Meghna Singh
With opener Lamb out injured, England’s main challenge will be around who partners Beaumont. Dunkley is an option given she is used to the job in white-ball cricket, which could also mean a Test debut for Capsey. The other spot in focus will be the second seamer’s – between Lauren Filer, who impressed with her raw pace in the Ashes, and Lauren Bell.
England (possible): 1 Tammy Beaumont, 2 Sophia Dunkley, 3 Heather Knight (capt), 4 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 5 Alice Capsey, 6 Danni Wyatt, 7 Amy Jones (wk), 8 Sophie Ecclestone, 9 Charlie Dean, 10 Kate Cross, 11 Lauren Filer/Lauren Bell
Pitch and conditions
On the eve of the Test, the pitch wore a brown look with very little grass on it. The word is that it will aid spin but both the captains said it would be skiddy. “It might not turn more and will be skiddy even for the spinners,” Harmanpreet said with Knight almost agreeing: “Spin has skidded on a bit more. We trained on the other ground yesterday and it was almost like a day one wicket where spin skidded on. Did a little bit with the ball, a little bit of swing and a bit of nip.”
Mornings in Mumbai and its suburbs have been pleasant with the effect of the sun felt in the afternoon, when the temperature crosses the 30-degree-celcius mark. All four days are expected to be similar weather-wise.
Quotes
“Butterlies [in the stomach] are always there, no matter how much you have played. There is always excitement and nervousness when you go to the ground. When you play one ball, you get totally involved in the game. Last Test I missed because of injury and this time there is an opportunity to lead the team. The talk has been about being positive and playing with excitement.”
Harmanpreet Kaur on leading India in a Test for the first time
“Any person we choose to open with Tammy [Beaumont] has no experience of doing it in Test match cricket and it’s not an easy place to bat. Whoever does that role is going to be brand new. We are going to pick our best six batters that we are going to think are going to score us the most runs to try and set up the Test match.”
England captain Heather Knight keeps her cards close to her chest
