Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of the India women’s team, won the toss and chose to bat first in the one-off Test against England on Thursday at the DY Patil Sports Academy. In this four-day Test, both teams are eager for a victory – England aiming to break a winless streak in Tests since 2014, while India are playing their first home Test in nine years. The Indian playing XI sees the inclusion of new faces, with Renuka Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Shubha Satheesh receiving their Test debut caps before the match.
Ahead of the clash, England skipper Heather Knight expressed the desire to end their winless run before returning home.
“I am desperate to win a Test match. It feels like it’s been a while since we’ve done that as an England side. It’ll be a great finish if we end with a win in the Test. It was so pleasing- the T20 series win. With the T20 World Cup coming up, it feels like we’re in a really good place. It gave our youngsters some time in conditions they’re not otherwise too used to. Playing cricket out here in the heat and humidity is not easy. We’re going to have to play really well. It’ll be satisfying to have a good four days and then wind up with a win and head home for Christmas,” Heather said on the eve of the clash in the pre-match press conference.
On the other hand, Harmanpreet went on to talk about the strategy that the team would adopt for a four-day Test but held back the combination that they could opt for.
“It is a four-day game. So even if you have to bowl for two days, you have to look at who can bowl for two days and who are those batters who can bat for long,” India captain Harmanpreet said.
“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,” she added.
India Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia(w), Sneh Rana, Shubha Satheesh, Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Thakur Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad
England Women (Playing XI): Tammy Beaumont, Sophia Dunkley, Heather Knight(c), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danielle Wyatt, Amy Jones (w), Sophie Ecclestone, Charlotte Dean, Kate Cross, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell.
[ad_2]