The India women’s cricket team will be playing a Test match for the first time in seven years as they prepare to tour England in June-July 2021.
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November 2014. That was the last time the India women’s cricket team had played a Test match. In that game in Mysore against South Africa, India secured an innings win. Now, six years and seven months later, India will finally play a Test match. The England and Wales Cricket Board announced the full schedule of the India women’s cricket team to England for the month of June to July.
India will begin the campaign with a Test match on June 16 at the County Ground in Bristol. This will then be followed by three ODIs on June 27, 30 and July 3 at Bristol, Taunton and Worcester. The action will then shift to three T20Is on July 9, 11 and 15 at Northampton, Hove and Chelmsford. Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, the two legends of India women’s cricket team, have played only 10 Tests in their two-decade international career.
Mithali is the only Indian woman cricketer to have a double ton in Tests. She averages 51 in 16 innings. On the other hand, Goswami has three five-wicket hauls and one 10-wicket haul. She averages 16 with 40 wickets.
In 2002, Mithali created history when she smashed 214 in Wormsley. The two-Test series against England was drawn 0-0. At that time, she had become only the fourth woman cricketer in history to have scored a double century. Mithali has happy memories of England. In 2006, she was part of the first Indian cricket team to win a Test series in England when they won the second Test in Taunton. In 2014, at the same venue where she scored a double ton, Mithali hit a fifty as India won a close match by six wickets for their second consecutive win.
Like Mithali, Goswami also has a fabulous record in England. It was her 10-wicket haul in 2006 in Taunton that gave India their first win in England. In 2014, she took 4/48 and played a big part in their win in Wormsely. Out of her 40 Test wickets, 29 are against England.
Out of the current crop of players, the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut, Shikha Pandey, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Sushma Verma and Harmanpreet Kaur all have Test experience.
India will be hoping to achieve a hat-trick of Test series wins in England. Interest in Test cricket for women has waned in the last couple of years, with T20s and ODIs dominating.
The England vs Australia Ashes contests are keenly watched. However, for the other teams, getting a Test match opportunity is rare. England skipper Heather Knight has stressed that more nations must get an opportunity in Tests. This series is possibly a step in the right direction.
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