On the eve of the first D/N Test in women’s cricket, India captain Raj insists Jhulan Goswami & Co are more than capable of taking 20 Oz wickets
Mithali Raj at Metricon Stadium, Carrara, yesterday
Indian women’s team skipper Mithali Raj is both curious and excited ahead of the pink-ball Test experience in the first-ever women’s day-night Test against Australia starting in Carrara today. However, India will again miss experienced all-rounder Harmanpreet Kaur as she has been ruled out of the game due to a thumb injury.
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In their first Test after a gap of seven years, the Indian women’s team managed a draw against England at Bristol last June. India’s most experienced pacer Jhulan Goswami had just one wicket from 21 overs against England, while off-spinners Sneh Rana and Deepti Sharma claimed four and three wickets respectively.
The Indian eves, who lost the three-ODI series 1-2 last week, had their first net session with the pink ball on Tuesday.
India pacer Jhulan Goswami. Pics/Getty Images
Girls gaining confidence
“We are definitely taking confidence from the ODIs, where we were able to take eight-nine wickets against the Australian side, into this Test. I am confident that our bowlers will be very confident. They have done a really good job in the one-day format. Test is a little different. You cannot really say upfront that we are going to score heavily or take all 20 wickets. But we are confident and that would be our target—to take 20 wickets,” Mithali said during a virtual pre-match press conference on Wednesday. “We are quite pleased with the way our three fast bowlers have bowled in the ODI series. Jhulan being the most experienced, she is also helping the others—Meghna Singh and Pooja Vastrakar. I think we have some quality seamers in Meghna and Pooja. We also have Shikha Pandey. So, I think it’s a good pace department,” Mithali added.
Pitch is unknown factor
The Carrara pitch remains an unknown factor for the visitors as this will be the first time that an Indian women’s team will be playing on a drop-in wicket. Mithali admitted that it’ll be a new experience overall, and that she’s most curious about the twilight phase. “To be very honest, I don’t have the experience of playing with a pink ball. It is going to be my first experience as well. I am quite curious to see [what happens] around that period [twilight] when they say that it’s going to be a little difficult,” Mithali concluded.
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