Confident India women run into mighty Australia in one-off Test

Not since 1995 has the Indian women’s cricket team competed in back-to-back Test matches. After a record win against England last week, Harmanpreet Kaur and Co will enter unchartered territory as they face Australia in a one-off Test that begins at the Wankhede Stadium here on Thursday. In fact, so rare are consecutive Tests in women’s cricket that the last time any team featured in them was in 2003 (women’s Ashes series).

- Aditya Chaturvedi

Having lost the preceding T20I series, the 347-run Test victory against England would’ve been morale-boosting for India. They have a new coaching staff and a number of fresh faces in their squad, and the challenge is only going to get tougher when they take on the all-conquering Aussies.

India will take great confidence from the England win. The batting clicked, the bowlers fired in unison, and the fielding was inspired. It was as complete a performance as head coach Amol Muzumdar would’ve hoped for.

But preparing for something you have no experience of can be challenging. In a press conference on Wednesday, skipper Harmanpreet admitted that the team management has had to be careful in monitoring the workload of certain players.