The Women in Blue sent shock waves through the cricket community as they clinched the one-off Test match against England-W at the DY Patil Stadium last week. They will now look to carry forward the momentum and secure their first-ever Test win against Australia in a one-off Test match starting today (December 21) at the historic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
India not only won the Test against England dominantly but also created history by securing the highest-ever victory margin of 347 runs.
Ahead of the Test, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has goaded her team to maintain the same intensity against Australia. The Aussies have defeated India in ten Tests on the trot in the last 46 years. Previously, Harmanpreet expressed her desire for the BCCI to set up more red-ball tournaments in both the domestic and international circuits for women’s cricket. The skipper believes that the only way to get that done was for the Indian team to lead by example and perform exceptionally well in Test cricket.
How does the Indian side look?
Ahead of the Test against Australia, India’s batting line-up seems bolstered with Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues and Yastika Bhatia serving blockbuster performances against England. India would want opener Smriti Mandhana to come good and notch up big knocks against the Aussies. Although India’s batting line-up looks stable, the team might miss the services of young talent Shubha Satheesh, who suffered a dislocation and hairline fracture after scoring a fifty against England. One of the batters –Priya Puniya and Harleen Deol will be expected to fill the shoes of Satheesh. Although Deepti Sharma was the star of the one-off Test against England, India’s bowling looks more rounded than meets the eye. Renuka Singh Thakur has earned a big reputation for her skills with the new ball.
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Australia-W without Meg Lanning
On the other hand, Australia also has an uphill task despite having one of the top teams in the history of the game. The Australian-W team is visiting India after 40 years, and with a newly appointed skipper, Alyssa Healy, they face a formidable challenge.
Healy believes that despite having the edge over India in multiple ICC tournaments, beating India on home turf will be challenging. Healy at the pre-series press conference said that the Indian team at any point cannot be underestimated considering the “sheer amount of talent in the Indian dressing room”.
The two high-quality teams will soon face off, and all eyes will be on the Indian team to emerge triumphant against the mighty Aussies.
Squads:
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Shubha Satheesh, Harleen Deol, Saika Ishaque, Renuka Singh Thakur, Titas Sadhu, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar
Australia: Darcie Brown, Lauren Cheatle, Heather Graham, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Alyssa Healy (C & WK), Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney (wk), Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham.
Match starts at 9:30 am IST on December 21, Thursday.