Amol Muzumdar, the shot caller in historic win

Navi Mumbai, December 16

The India women’s cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur today credited head coach Amol Muzumdar for taking vital decisions for the team, conceding that she lacked the requisite experience of leading in Tests after they completed a record 347-run win over England here.

India took precisely seven sessions to create the world record in terms of the largest Test win by runs, while also registering their first-ever victory over England at home and overall their sixth in 39 Tests, here at the DY Patil Stadium.

Our coach helped us a lot, I had zero experience in leading the team in Tests. I was trusting his (Muzumdar’s) decisions — be it sending Shubha (Satheesh) at one-down in the first innings or whatever ideas he gave in bowling. Harmanpreet Kaur, India captain

Harmanpreet, who made her Test debut in 2014, led India for the first time in the format. “Our coach helped us a lot, I had zero experience in leading the team in Tests,” Harmanpreet told the media after the massive win. “I was trusting his (Muzumdar’s) decisions — be it sending Shubha (Satheesh) at one-down in the first innings or whatever ideas he gave in bowling, like the first 40 minutes were important today, the idea was to put them (England) in early and utilise the morning conditions,” she said. “His experience really helped us and it also gave me time to decide what was best for the team.”

She said India were able to execute all their plans and set the tone with their fielding, which proved decisive for the hosts, as they now prepare to take on Australia in another one-off Test next week.

“Everything went according to the plan. We got the score that we wanted and the bowlers did a good job, both medium-pacers and spinners knew their plans and performed accordingly,” she said.