The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia is planning to increase the number of Test matches for the Indian women’s team and introduce more multi-day competitions at the domestic level, similar to the Ranji Trophy.
Since 2014, the Indian women’s team have played only seven Test matches. The last time they were involved in a series comprising more than one Test was in 2006. There was a period between 2015 and 2021 when India did not play a single Test match. Saikia emphasised the need to include multi-day matches in all bilateral series.
“Basically, women are playing more white-ball cricket — T20Is and ODIs. About three years ago, India restarted playing multi-day (Test) cricket against Australia, New Zealand, and England. When Jay Shah was BCCI secretary, he took a special initiative to promote women’s Test cricket. So now we are playing Test matches again,” Saikia told PTI in an interview. “We’re already playing Tests against England and Australia, but we must find ways to include multi-day matches in all bilateral series.”
While there are domestic 50-over and 20-over tournaments in India, there is no red-ball tournament for women cricketers akin to the Ranji Trophy.
“At the senior level, we must have more multi-day tournaments. That’s one area where we have to make progress. All our domestic events are mainly T20 or 50-over matches. Perhaps we’ll have to introduce some tournaments similar to the Ranji Trophy for men,” he added.
The ongoing World Cup in India proves that the women’s game is gaining immense popularity. In Tests, the Indian women’s team have performed well — in fact, they are unbeaten in Test cricket since 2006, having won six of their eight matches.
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