Onus on Indian team to take women's cricket ahead: Captain Harmanpreet Kaur

Navi Mumbai, December 13

Without hiding her desire to see more Tests being played in women’s cricket, captain Harmanpreet Kaur today admitted that India will have to play a lead role to make it a reality through consistent performances.

After a gap of nearly nine years, India will be playing a Test at home when they take on England in a one-off match here at the DY Patil Stadium.

India’s last Test at home took place in November 2014 against South Africa at Mysore.

“Talking about women’s cricket, it is improving day-by-day In India. A lot of people are coming to watch the match which we saw in the last T20Is,” Kaur said on the eve of the match. “Everyone in the world…they want to play in India. In India, things are changing quickly when it comes to cricket. A lot of people are extending their love and we are also trying to improve. We have an opportunity to take women’s cricket as high as we can.”

“I know that a lot hinges on the Indian cricket team when it comes to women’s cricket. The way the approach is changing in India concerning women’s cricket, we have a lot in our hands,” Kaur added.

With India making a return to the Test arena after September 2021, Kaur said they desire to appear in more long-format matches. “As players we want to play more and more Test games. It is ICC and (the) board’s call to take up,” she said.

Kaur said the switch between white and the red-ball formats, given there was only a three-day break between the T20Is and the Test, would be challenging. “The bowling unit got 10-15 days to prepare. They understood how the red ball behaves,” she said.