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India's focus on mental, physical aspects in England Test: Smriti Mandhana
Women rarely get to play red-ball cricket and the challenge will be to curb white-ball habits in the one-off game starting in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
When India’s women cricketers face England at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai from Thursday, they will be lining up for a home Test after nine years. India’s last four-day game at home came against South Africa in Mysuru in 2014, prevailing by an innings and 34 runs.
So sparse are such occasions - they have played only two Tests since then (against England in Bristol and Australia in Carrara in 2021) - that vice-captain Smriti Mandhana spent most of her media interaction on Tuesday talking about adjusting to four-day cricket.
Before that, Mandhana shared her happiness at donning the white flannels again.
“Definitely very excited to be playing a home Test. A lot of things have changed for women's cricket, particularly post 2017. We could see that change at Wankhede when we played the T20Is....the kind of crowds that came in, the support we are getting. Women's cricket is on the rise. We are really excited to be wearing whites again on home soil. It's a different feeling altogether,” Mandhana told reporters on Tuesday.
T20Is and ODIs dominate the women’s cricket calendar but India will play a Test against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai soon after the England game. Over the next couple of weeks, it means that India’s players will experience a rare spell of curbing their white-ball instincts and focusing on Test cricket.
“It requires both the mental and physical aspects. Our bodies are not used to playing four back-to-back days of cricket. We generally play T20s and ODIs a lot more. Trying to focus on each and every ball for four days requires a lot of mental preparation. Hopefully, we can execute whatever we have thought about and play the way the Test format requires us to play,” said Mandhana.
The 27-year-old opening batter - she’s the most experienced member of the current set-up with four Tests in nine years - doesn’t want her teammates to overthink it though.
“If you think about it (adjusting to Tests) a lot, it can be hard. If you keep it simple, it can be easy too. That's what we discussed. We just said the difference is the red ball and white ball. We are not stressing that the ball is going to do a lot. The aerial shots that we play in T20s may not be the same. Or we may have to leave a few more balls. It’s all about application. We are not stressing that it will be really hard. We have to go out there and play our game. Everyone bats in a different way. We will just keep it simple.”
While even the top teams play very few Tests, Mandhana hopes the women’s game too can have a World Test Championship going forward. “I would love to be a part of the World Test Championship but that is for the boards and the ICC to decide,” she said. “Having watched a lot of men’s Test cricket and championships, it would be exciting to be a part of something of that sort. But as I said, that would be their (administrators) decision.”
Seasoned England batter Tammy Beaumont, however, pointed out the challenges. “I do not think it is quite the right time, if I am honest. At the moment there are only three or four nations that are playing Test cricket regularly, and potentially (there are) only three or four governing bodies that can afford to host women’s Test cricket,” said the 32-year-old, who has played only eight Tests in a decade since debut.
