India will play fearless cricket: Amol

With the T20 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh next year, a new-look India women's team will be keen to iron out the creases against formidable England

- Aditya Chaturvedi

After nearly two-and-a-half months, the Indian women’s cricket team returns to action with a three-match T20 series against England starting at the Wankhede Stadium here on Wednesday.

Despite the launch of the Women’s Premier League in March, India have had precious little game time over the past eight months. They beat Bangladesh in a T20I series in July, which was followed by a tied ODI series that saw skipper Harmanpreet Kaur slapped a two-match suspension; they then won the Asian Games gold in September.

With the next T20 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh in nine months, a new-look Indian set-up will be keen to build some momentum against a strong England. The T20I series will be followed by a lone Test before India host Australia in a Test, and three ODIs and T20s each.

Since Ramesh Powar’s tenure as head coach ended in October last year, India had Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Nooshin Al Khadeer as interim coaches. Amol Muzumdar is now at the helm and the former Mumbai skipper has the task of ensuring stability and steering the side through two tough assignments within a month.

The 49-year-old was one of the most prolific run-scorers in domestic cricket. He achieved great success as Mumbai skipper and as coach took them to the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy final. For the twin series, Munish Bali will be the fielding coach and former Australia first-class cricketer Troy Cooley the bowling coach.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Muzumdar was pleased to begin his stint in his hometown. He hasn’t had much time with the team to prepare for England though.