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India women's cricket team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur discussed the excitement and challenges ahead of a home season featuring two Tests, saying that lack of red-ball fixtures over the years have left the team with a challenge to prepare themselves in a short period of time.
Test cricket will feature for the first time in India women's home season since 2014 when they take on England and Australia. In 2014, they defeated South Africa by an innings and 34 runs in Mysore. They have played only two Tests since, both away fixtures, against England and Australia in 2021. The side performed well in both games and managed to walk away with honours. Harmanpreet who has featured in merely three Tests in her career so far, was enthusiastic about featuring in a home Test for the first time since 2014. Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo as quoted by ICC, she said that there was excitement about the upcoming Tests, but at the same time, the side faced the challenge of having not played any red-ball cricket in recent times. "The Test series is something which we are really looking forward to because I have not played in front of a home crowd [since featuring against South Africa], so I am really excited about that," Harmanpreet said. "The challenge for us is that we have not played with the red ball. We have been playing with the white ball for so many years, even in domestic cricket also we do not have red-ball cricket back home. So the challenge for us is to make yourself ready in such a short time," she concluded. While the all-rounder, in the middle of a busy Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) campaign, wished to get some red-ball practice before the Tests, it turned out to be an impractical consideration. "I had that thought if I can simultaneously do some red-ball practice also, but because it is such a packed schedule you cannot mix things," she said. "We are playing T20 cricket and the Test game is a totally different kind of game, so I did not want to mix it. When I am going back, I have ten days to prepare myself," he concluded. England's tour of India is slated to begin on December 6 with a three-game T20I series. They will feature in a one-off four-day Test from December 14-17 at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai. Australia will tour next, beginning with a four-day Test at the Wankhede stadium from December 21-24. This will be followed by an ODI and T20I series between the two sides. (ANI)
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