At Wankhede Stadium, India made history by defeating the Australian women's team in a Test match for the first time in history. With eight wickets remaining, the hosts chased down 75 runs. However, something drew everyone's attention at the post-match presentation.
Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of the Indian team, lifted the winning trophy and went straight to her team who were waiting for a photo-op. She handed the trophy to the team as they got ready to get clicked. But on the opposite end stood Alyssa Healy with a camera in her hand ready to capture the Indian team with their trophy.
The crowd in the stands cheered as everybody admired the Australian captain’s sportsman spirit.
And now the Australia captain herself has revealed why she was clicking photos of the Indian team with the trophy.
“It wasn’t my camera. I was just pushing the cameramen back. So, I thought I’d allow one of them to get up there nice and close. But I actually cut out half of the Indian team by accident. So, I don’t think you’ll be using that one (laughs),” she said during the post-match press conference.
Healy summed up the experience of her first Test match in India as “tough and enjoyable”.
“A really enjoyable experience. I mean, it was tough work. We knew it was going to be hard work coming over here, in particular, playing a one-off test series. There’s no real time to learn, to adapt, to find a style of play. So, we knew it was going to be a tough ask, but I’m really proud of our group and the fight that we showed at the end of the day.
I think we probably had one bad day of cricket, which will cost you in a four-day game of cricket. But all in all, it was a really enjoyable experience. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nice,” Healy added.
Healy also clarified that she doesn’t have any competition with India captain Harmanpreet Kaur. On Day 3, Harman, who was bowling to Healy, flung the ball towards Healy in an attempt to catch her out of her crease, but the ball bounced off Healy's bat and went for a boundary.
Harman filed an appeal, but the umpires signaled four. Harman grabbed Healy's wicket and gave her an angry send-off on the very next delivery.
“I don’t necessarily think there is a rivalry. I think that we’re just two cricketers going at it. That’s basically the way that I’d sum it up. She’s obviously a passionate cricketer, so am I. That’s what happens when Australia plays India. It’s a good, hard contest. Yesterday was just probably an example of that,” Healy added.
The two sides will now clash in a series of 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is which begins on 28th December at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
(ANI inputs)
