The captain of the Indian women's team Harmanpreet Kaur is getting ready for her first home Test match in almost a decade. She is aware of how difficult it will be to quickly adapt to red-ball cricket because of the rigorous international schedule. The team will play two Test matches at home. The first match will be against England on December 14 in Navi Mumbai, while the second match will be against Australia on December 21 in Mumbai.
Harmanpreet is worried because the Indian women's team hasn't played much red-ball cricket. She has only played three Tests in her 14-year-long career.
"The Test series is something which we are really looking forward to because I haven't played in front of a home crowd [since 2014], so I'm really excited for that," Harmanpreet was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
"The challenge for us is that we haven't played with the red ball. We have been playing with the white ball for so many years.
"Even in domestic cricket also, we don't have red-ball cricket back home. So the challenge for us is to make yourself ready in such a short time."
Harmanpreet has scored only 38 runs in three Tests at an average of 7.60. However, she has taken nine wickets, all of which she claimed during her only home Test in November 2014 against South Africa. Her other two Tests were against England in Wormsley (2014) and Bristol (2021).
Currently participating in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) in Australia, Harmanpreet will play Melbourne Renegades' final game against Melbourne Stars at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on November 25. She now has just 19 days to get ready for the next England Test.
However, the 34-year-old would play in the three-match T20I series against England, which starts on December 6 and before the Test. This itinerary restricts her time to get ready for the red carpet. When Harmanpreet first joined the WBBL, she had planned to practice with the red ball, but her hectic schedule got in the way.
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