The Indian Women’s Cricket team extended their unbeaten run in Test matches to six, after drawing the Pink Ball test versus Australia.
It was a commendable feat by India, as the Women’s Team was playing their 1st Pink Ball Test, that too in Australian conditions and had lost the toss and was put in to bat first on a relatively green wicket.
This performance will give them the much needed confidence boost, heading into the three match T20I series against the five time T20 World Champions.
The Aussie Women’s team has been a dominant force in the shorter format, having made it to the final in 6 out of the 7 T20 World Cup editions held so far, winning 5 of them. The only time they did not make it to the final was in the inaugural Women’s World T20 in 2009.
India has made the finals of the Women’s T20 World Cup only once, in 2020, only to be pipped at the post by the Aussies in the summit clash at Melbourne.
Alyssa Healy was the Player of the Match in that contest, while Beth Mooney was adjudged the Player of the Tournament. Those two batters are still around in this Aussie lineup and along with their captain Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry, they will be the batting mainstays for the hosts. The Aussies will miss the services of vice-captain Rachael Haynes who is ruled out due to injury, but their bowling department is bolstered by the return of express pace bowler Tayla Vlaeminck.
For India the big question is the fitness and match preparedness of their T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur. Harmanpreet sustained a thumb injury during a net session and missed the ODI’s and the Pink Ball Test, but is expected to be fit, and lead the side in the T20 series.
The other change in personnel for India in the T20 format will be in the form of hard-hitting batter Harleen Deol, all rounder Sneh Rana and wicketkeeper bat Richa Ghosh, who should get a spot in the playing XI. Radha Yadav who took an impressive 5/16 in the Women’s T20 Challenge Final last year for the Supernovas, should bolster the spin department.
This year there are seven Indian players who will be featuring in the WBBL– Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav, Deepti Sharma, Smriti Mandhana and Richa Ghosh
This just highlights how good some of these young Indian players are in the shorter format of the game. To write the Indian team off lightly in the T20 series may prove to be perilous for Australia.
Meanwhile, the first T20 match was abandoned due to rain and both teams have been awarded a point each.
The Author is a Sportscaster & Cricket Commentator who has worked on assignments for leading sports networks in India & Abroad and is on the Hindi commentary panel for the AUS W v/s IND W series