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Big picture – A tough challenge for India
It’s been almost 40 years. Australia Women played a four-Test series in India in 1984, all of which ended in draws, with the last at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. On Thursday, India and Australia will start a one-off Test match, again at Wankhede, to kick off their multi-format series.
“Unbelievably huge shoes to fill in replacing Meg Lanning,” Healy said. “The success she had as not only a player but as a leader of the Australian cricket team is fairly unmatched right around the men’s and women’s game. Big shoes to fill on my part but one that’s really exciting to me. Bring it on, India is a big challenge!”
Healy is returning after a finger injury – she was accidentally bitten by her dog after just one game at the WBBL and required surgery. She said “the finger is all good”. “I didn’t realise how much I’d missed it watching WBBL at home and coming here and getting the opportunity to keep and have a bat.” She also confirmed that she will keep wickets in the Test.
In the spotlight – Smriti Mandhana and Jess Jonassen
Team news
India (possible): 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Jemimah Rodrigues, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Harleen Deol/Richa Ghosh, 6 Yastika Bhatia (wk), 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Sneh Rana, 9 Pooja Vastrakar, 10 Renuka Singh, 11 Rajeshwari Gayakwad
Australia (possible): 1 Beth Mooney, 2 Phoebe Litchfield, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 Tahlia McGrath, 5 Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), 6 Ashleigh Gardner, 7 Jess Jonassen, 8 Annabel Sutherland, 9 Alana King/Georgia Wareham, 10 Lauren Cheatle/Kim Garth, 11 Darcie Brown
Pitch and conditions
Unlike at the DY Patil Stadium, the pitch at the Wankhede had a green look to it around the middle the day before the game. But it was brown and bare towards each end. Healy reckoned it was dry, and the green grass “which is very unusual to you guys looks very bare to us”. She added, “If you get an opportunity to bat first, you need to bat long and bat well and bat the opposition out.”
The temperature in Mumbai this week has been in the late 20s and early 30s. The mornings have been cool, and that might help the seamers in the first hour. And, as Healy pointed out, the SG ball used for the Test match “swings a little bit when it’s shiny but if you can keep it in some sort of condition, it swings the whole day”.
Quotes
“When you bat and bowl for three days – the likes of Deepti and Pooja, who didn’t get enough rest [after the England Test] – we try to take care of their loads. They need to feel ready for the game and we made them train accordingly. The ones who had lesser loads, we pushed them hard in the nets to feel more confident.”
Harmanpreet Kaur on the workload of India players for back-to-back Tests
“We have been part of a few multi-format series with points system coming into play, and giving the Test match, in particular, a greater context. Being a bit cheeky, I would have thought India would have backed themselves in their home conditions and got off to a 4-0 start. It does surprise me a little bit.”
Alyssa Healy
S Sudarshanan is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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