As India’s both men’s and women’s cricket teams have left for their England tour, Indian Women’s team captain Mithali Raj has expressed her excitement to play Test cricket next month after 7 years.
Indian women’s cricket team is slated to play one-off Test, three ODIs, and as many as T20Is against England Women with the UK starting with the pink ball Test match from June 18 in Bristol.
Mithali, India’s Test and ODI captain, is really excited to lead the young bunch of players in England on their maiden four-day day-night Test match against the England women’s side this month. The Indian team will also play a day-night Test match in Australia at the WACA, Perth in September.
In a video posted on BCCI’s official website, Mithali stated: “I was a part of the 2014 Test match in England, it has been some time for the players who were a part of that particular match. We have some new players in the squad and I am quite excited about playing a Test match.
Leading the side which has some players who will play the Test match for the first time, it is a different experience. It is one of the oldest formats of the sport, all of us are excited to play against a strong England side.”
Meanwhile, India’s senior pacer Jhulan Goswami said on playing Tests after 7 years: “When you are representing your country, you want to do extra and you want to contribute to your team. After seven years, we are going to play Test cricket. As a bowler, you have to bowl long spells.”
The Indian women's team will take on England in a one-off Test, beginning June 16 followed by the three ODIs from June 27, 30 at Bristol and Taunton respectively while the final ODI on July 3 in Worcester.
The three-match T20I series will start on July 9 at Northampton while the second and final T20I will be held in Hove and Chelmsford on July 11 and 14.
India's Senior Women squad for Test & ODI:
Mithali Raj (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav.
India's Senior Women squad for T20I:
Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain) Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Simran Dil Bahadur
(With ANI Inputs)
