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Cricket PlayersHarmanpreet Kaur ruled out of India women's historic pink-ball Test against Australia
India women vs Australia women: When asked about the update on Harmanpreet Kaur, Mithali Raj said: "She is ruled out for the Test match."
In what could turn out to be a big blow for the India women's cricket team, experienced batter Harmanpreet Kaur was ruled out of their historic pink-ball day-night Test match against Australia starting on Thursday. The development was confirmed by captain Mithali Raj on the eve of India women's first-ever day-night Test match.
When asked about the update on Harmanpreet Kaur, Mithali said: "She is ruled out for the Test match."
Harmanpreet, who did not play the three-match ODI series which Australia won 2-1, has failed to recover from the thumb injury. Right-hander Poonam Raut or young Yastika Bhatia, who had a stellar ODI series, could come in to the side in place of Harmanpreet.
Mithali stressed on the importance of handing the first session well.
"I think the first session we had with the pink ball was yesterday. Yes, everybody had a different experience because we are not used to the pink ball, it does move around quite a bit. I think that is the pretty much first impression we got with the pink ball," said Mithali during a virtual press conference.
India have decision to make in maintaining the balance of the side. Mithali seemed very impressed with pace attack's performance.
"We are quite pleased with the way the three fast bowlers have bowled in the ODI series. Jhulan being the most experienced and she is helping the others -- Pooja Vastrakar and Meghna. I think we do have some quality seamers in Meghna and Pooja, we do have Shikha Pandey also. I think it is a good pace department that we now have in the side," said the India skipper.
"Definitely, the most significant thing is that we had two Tests this year. We played one in England and now we are playing against Australia. If this becomes a regular feature in bilateral series, then women's cricket will thrive. I get this feedback most of the time, even today's players who play in different leagues, they also love to play the longer format, if it becomes a regular thing, it will be great for women's cricket," said Mithali when asked how important is pink-ball Test for women's cricket.
When asked about the Indian bowling attack, Mithali said: "We definitely are taking the confidence from the ODI format where we were able to take eight-nine wickets. They did a good job in ODIs, Test is a little different. You cannot really say from the outside that we are going to score heavily and take 20 wickets, our target will be to take 20 wickets."
(With ANI inputs)
