E-Paper
Hungry to do well for India at Bristol Test, says wicketkeeper Taniya
Taniya Bhatia is set to make a debut in red-ball cricket at the one-off Test besides playing in three ODI and three T20I series against England, beginning June 16
After being controversially left out of the South Africa ODI series in March, wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia has worked hard on her game and fitness to gain a spot in the India women cricket team for a one-off Test, three ODIs, and three T20Is against England, starting June 16.
“It was a bit surprising to be dropped from the team against South Africa. But I always keep a positive mindset. I played for Punjab in the domestic one-day tournament in the meantime to get some runs under my belt. It did bring the confidence back,” said Chandigarh-based Bhatia, eyeing her Test debut at Bristol, England.
Besides Bhatia, Jharkhand’s Indrani Roy has also been included in the Test, ODI and T20 squads for the England tour.
After the Punjab tournament, Bhatia trained hard with coach RX Murali on her batting too. With just 121 runs in 15 ODIs and 166 runs in 50 T20s, Bhatia couldn’t match up to her reputation with the bat while playing for India.
“I would have loved to score more runs in both the formats. It was not easy to train during the lockdown last year after the T20 World Cup in Australia. But when facilities opened up, I did work really hard on my batting with Murali sir. I am also excited to have Shiv Sundar Das as batting coach for India women team. I am confident of doing well against England in the batting department,” said the 23-year-old.
She is a leading wicketkeeper for India in T20s with 44 stumpings and 23 catches. Amid no cricket practice with the red ball ahead of the Bristol Test, it would be a huge task for the Indian women to adapt to the conditions and get used to the format.
“I am thrilled to be in the Test team and hope to make my debut in whites. We have not had any practice with the red ball, but I am sure we will get enough time to work on it ahead of the match. This is the real challenge of modern-day cricket. Making adjustments to different formats and to new conditions quickly is the need of the hour,” said Bhatia, who was presented the India Test team jersey at a Mumbai hotel by captain Mithali Raj and veteran speedster Jhulan Goswami during a session in coach Ramesh Powar’s presence.
She is likely to get a tough contest from Indrani Roy, who was the leading scorer in the domestic one-day tournament with a tally of 456 runs. While Bhatia is likely to be handed the gloves for the one-off Test, Roy could make it to the limited overs side. “I am hungry to do well for India. Since I missed playing against South Africa, I want to make all the chances count and take tips from seniors on playing England pitches and conditions,” said Bhatia, who made her ODI and T20 debut in 2018.
The batter who was once trained by former Indian cricketer Yograj Singh thinks that Powar is a goal-oriented coach whose skills will help the team pull-off good performances in England and in further tournaments ahead of the ODI World Cup in New Zealand.
