CRICKET
Women’s Test cricket to return in India after more than 9 years
India will be hosting a Test match for the first time in more than 9 years. The D Y Patil cricket stadium in Navi Mumbai is set to host a Test match between India and England in December later this year. The reports suggest that the match between the Indian Women’s team and the England Women’s team will take place from the 14th of December to the 17th of December, for four days.
The Indian state of Maharashtra is set to host the entire tour of England to India. Apart from the one-off Test, England will face India in the 20-20 series of three matches, which will also happen in Maharashtra. The three 20-20 matches will be played in Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on the 6th, 9th, and 10th of December respectively. The back-to-back games will be an attempt to make the most of the weekend.
The dates are yet to be finalized. The last time England toured India was in 2019. In the tour, England took on India in 3 ODIs and T20Is in Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and Guwahati Stadium respectively. While India won the ODI series 2-1, England hammered India 3-0 in the T20I series. One of the players who played in the series, Kate Cross, spoke about Women’s Test cricket’s return in India.
We played in front of over 12,000 people in Guwahati – Kate Cross
“The opportunity to come and play a Test match in India is bucket-list stuff for a lot of players. I’ve been in India for a couple of weeks now and you can see that girls have role models in that team now. We played in front of over 12,000 people in Guwahati,” said Cross, who is one of the broadcasters in the ODI World Cup 2023. Maharashtra seems to be a hotspot of Women’s cricket in India.
Earlier this year, the state hosted the entire season of the Women’s IPL. After the series between India and England, the Australian Women’s team is set to visit India for an all-format tour. Reports suggest that the Tests and ODIs of the tour are set to be played in Wankhede Stadium, and the T20Is are to be played in D Y Patil Stadium.